Fair Work says D365 Group underpaid staff, not the first such finding

The Fair Work Ombudsman has found Sydney-based D365 Group has underpaid several of its staff up to several thousand dollars each.

In correspondence from Fair Work dated 18 February 2022, the agency told one former D365 Group employee that the company “contravened workplace laws” in relation to their employment, including evidence of an underpayment, after “gathering information from a range of sources”. 

Fair Work said D365 Group specifically contravened s90(2) of the Fair Work Act, saying the employee was not paid their untaken annual leave upon departing the company. 

The agency also said D365 Group was issued a compliance notice on 14 January 2022, directing the company to pay the money owed to the employee and provide Fair Work with evidence that it complied with the order. Fair Work said D365 Group had not complied as of Friday, 18 February 2022. 

In a separate ruling sent to another employee, Fair Work said D365 Group contravened s90(2) and also clause 4.3 of the National Minimum Wage Order by not paying the employee for time worked. The agency said D365 Group was issued a compliance notice on 23 November 2021 and said the company has not complied with the notice as of 18 February.

The Fair Work investigation followed multiple former D365 Group employees filing complaints. This included some who were in senior management roles and who allege that the company did not pay their superannuation and other entitlements.

D365 Group, a Microsoft Gold partner, specialises in Microsoft Dynamics 365, Office 365, SharePoint, ERP and other related services. Its customers include aged care, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), real estate and accounting services providers across Australia.

Fair Work’s findings come on top of two earlier cases against D365 Group in 2019 – one where the Federal Circuit Court (Case no. SYG1267/2019) ordered the company to pay a former employee $9,604.11 in unpaid wages, annual leave, public holidays and payment in lieu of notice of termination – and another where the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (pdf) awarded another employee $8,795.31 for breaching the Fair Work Act 2009. The latter was a judgment by default, while the former was awarded with no representative from D365 Group appearing at the hearing. 

CRN spoke to seven former employees of the Sydney-based company over the past three months, all of whom accused D365 Group of underpaying them. The former employees asked to remain anonymous to protect future job prospects. CRN has also independently established that other former employees have taken action against the company.

Speaking to CRN prior to Fair Work's decisions, D365 Group director David Blumentals said Fair Work’s investigation was "part of running a business” and that “from time to time people leave if they're unhappy for whatever reason so they're not going to be giving you glowing terms of reference.” He added that he and D365 are “fully cooperating” with the agency on the investigation.

Blumentals had not responded to the Fair Work decision by the time of publication.

The former employees who have communicated with CRN say they are claiming up to $20,000 in unpaid entitlements from D365 Group.

Three of the claims are also backed by correspondence from the Australian Taxation Office to former employees, seen by CRN, indicating that they were owed several thousand dollars worth of superannuation payments.

Blumentals refuted this, saying that D365 Group pays superannuation contributions every quarter. He said the ATO had not been in contact with him and D365 on the matter.

The ATO declined to comment, citing its obligations of confidentiality under the law.