Grocery giant Woolworths has admitted to underpaying about 5,700 workers up to $300 million.
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Woolworths supermarket and Metro store employees have not been paid their full entitlements under their General Retail Industry Award.
The company estimates the total cost of remediation to be between $200 million and $300 million.
The payment shortfall was noticed after Woolworths Group began a review earlier this year after the implementation of a new enterprise agreement in Woolworths Supermarkets and Metro stores.
The review highlighted an inconsistency in pay for a number of salaried store team members compared to team members paid under the new enterprise agreement.
Affected current and former salaried team members will receive their full entitlements, including back payments with interest and superannuation contributions, "as soon as possible".
Interim back payments will be made before Christmas to affected employees for the two years, September 2017 to August 2019, that were reviewed.
Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci apologised for the mistake and said the payment shortfalls would be rectified.
"As a business we pride ourselves on putting our team first, and in this case we have let them down. We unreservedly apologise," he said.
"The highest priority for Woolworths Group right now is to address this issue, and to ensure that it doesn't happen again."
Woolworths said in a statement that "there is extensive plan in place to ensure salaried team members' pay is correct and compliant moving forward".
