Woolworths, Coles facing almost $1b in costs after a judge rules against the supermarkets in underpaid staffers scandal

The nation’s two largest supermarkets are setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars to remedy years of underpaying staff members after losing a court battle last week, potentially costing the supermarkets almost $1b.

A class action case was brought against Woolworths and Coles for underpaying about 28,000 managerial employees overtime as the supermarkets failed to properly record and pay the staff members for the hours they worked.

Federal Court Justice Nye Perram ruled the supermarkets were required to record the overtime, meaning the retailers will have to repay the staffers minimum rates, penalties, overtime and allowances.

Woolworths, which has already paid $330m to impacted staff members, on Monday said further remediation for salaried employees could be between $180m and $330m