National Australia Bank (NAB) will pay about A$169 million to roughly 66,000 current and former staff it underpaid between 2012 and 2026, under an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman announced on Thursday, November 12, 2026. The total is A$127 million in wages and entitlements, plus A$34 million in interest and A$8 million in superannuation. NAB will also make a A$2 million contrition payment to the Commonwealth, the largest ever in a Fair Work Ombudsman undertaking. The bank says it has already paid back at least A$155 million.[1][2][3][4]
 | |
| Employer | National Australia Bank (NAB) |
|---|---|
| Regulator | Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) |
| Type of action | Enforceable undertaking (no court case) |
| Workers affected | About 66,000 (65,999) |
| Period | 2012 to 2026 |
| Unpaid wages | A$127 million |
| Interest and super | A$34 million and A$8 million |
| Total to staff | About A$169 million |
| Paid so far | At least A$155 million |
| Contrition payment | A$2 million to the Commonwealth (a record) |
| Average back-payment | About A$1,934 (range under A$5 to over A$87,000) |
| Announced | November 12, 2026 (AEDT) |
What happened at NAB
NAB, Australia's third-largest bank by size, got the pay of tens of thousands of its own employees wrong for more than a decade. The Fair Work Ombudsman says NAB is completing back-payments of A$127 million, plus A$34 million in interest and A$8 million in superannuation, to 65,999 workers. Reports round that to 66,000 staff and A$169 million.[2][3][4]
The underpayments ran from 2012 to 2026 and hit casual, part-time and full-time staff in every state and territory, from customer support advisers and home lending bankers to branch managers.[4] The Sydney Morning Herald describes it as 14 years of underpayment.[1]
Individual amounts vary a lot. Back-payments, including interest and super, range from less than A$5 to more than A$87,000. The average is about A$1,934, which other reports round to about A$1,900 or A$2,000.[1][2][4]
Penalty, back-pay or fine? What the A$169 million really is
Some headlines say NAB was "penalised" or "hit with a bill". It helps to separate the three pieces.
The A$169 million is not a fine. It is money NAB owed its own staff all along, with interest and super added because the workers went without it for years. It goes to the workers.[1][2][3]
The A$2 million contrition payment is the closest thing to a penalty. It goes to the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund, not to staff. The Fair Work Ombudsman said it is "the largest ever included in an enforceable undertaking executed by the Fair Work Ombudsman".[2][3][4] The SMH points out it is about 0.03 per cent of NAB's yearly profit.[1]
An enforceable undertaking is a formal agreement the employer signs with the regulator. It can be enforced in court if broken, but it is used instead of suing the employer.[4] So there is no court case, no judge and no court-ordered penalty here.
Why it went wrong
NAB first reported itself to the Fair Work Ombudsman in late 2019, after it found significant errors in how it applied its enterprise agreement, the pay deal it negotiated with staff. An internal review then found the problems stretched back to 2012.[2][3][4]
The fix did not hold. When NAB brought in a new enterprise agreement in 2024, it found it had not properly fixed the earlier problems and was still underpaying people.[3][4]
The regulator blamed weak governance and compliance oversight, poor record-keeping and old payroll technology.[3][4] Reports also point to NAB failing to check pay against the legal minimum in the banking industry award, mistakes in recording hours, and leave and other entitlements not being applied correctly.[1][2][4]
"NAB's underpayments highlight the serious, long-running problems that can arise when an employer fails to co-ordinate key business functions to meet their workplace obligations, including payroll, industrial relations, technology, risk management, audit and legal," Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said.[2][3][4] She added: "It is particularly disappointing to see these types of large and long-running underpayment issues in such a well-resourced employer."[2][3]
What NAB says
NAB has published an enforceable undertaking notice on its newsroom.[5] Sarah White, the NAB executive responsible for its people, apologised. "We take our payroll obligations extremely seriously as a basic element in employing people," she said. "We sincerely apologise for these unintended errors. We have and will continue to remediate anyone who has been impacted."[1][2][3]
The bank says it is still working to find and repay every affected worker, and that it will invest in better HR and payroll systems.[1]
What NAB has promised to change
Besides the back-pay, NAB has signed up to a list of measures to keep it within workplace laws. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the undertaking includes terms never used before in one of its undertakings: a commitment to plan and roll out any future enterprise agreement properly before it starts.[2][3][4]
HRD reports the other commitments include an independent audit of a new payroll platform, better tracking of staff complaints, staff forums, mandatory training on recording extra hours, and regular compliance reports to the board.[4] The SMH also reports the work will be checked by an external auditor.[1]
What affected staff should do
NAB says it is still paying people, and it has paid at least A$155 million of the total so far.[1][4] If you work or worked at NAB at any time since 2012, here is a sensible checklist.
Look for a payment or letter from NAB about the payroll review. If you have left the bank, the main risk is that NAB cannot find you, so make sure it has a current email or postal address. If you think you are still owed money, raise it with NAB first. If that does not resolve it, the Fair Work Ombudsman takes calls on 13 13 94.[6] Members of the Finance Sector Union can also ask their union.
You do not need to go to court. The back-payments are part of NAB's own remediation under the undertaking.[2][4]
How this fits the bigger picture
NAB is not the first big Australian employer to admit large underpayments. The SMH notes a string of big companies have confessed to similar problems, often blaming complex award rules, while unions argue companies should simply resource payroll properly.[1] NAB made a net profit of about A$6.1 billion in its 2026 financial year.[1][2]
The news also lands weeks after NAB said in October it would cut 2,500 jobs, mostly in senior management, corporate functions and administration.[2][3] That is a separate issue from the underpayment.
It has also been a busy week for bank regulators in Australia. ASIC is suing Commonwealth Bank over CommBiz fees (our explainer) and agreed a A$14 million penalty with Macquarie Bank over its savings Welcome Rate (our explainer).
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Earliest underpayments later found by NAB's internal review[2][3][4] |
| Late 2019 | NAB self-reports enterprise agreement errors to the Fair Work Ombudsman[2][3][4] |
| 2024 | New enterprise agreement; NAB finds the problems were not fully fixed[3][4] |
| October 2026 | NAB announces 2,500 job cuts (separate issue)[2][3] |
| November 12, 2026 | Enforceable undertaking announced: A$169 million to staff, A$2 million contrition payment[1][2][3][4] |
Frequently asked questions
How much did NAB underpay its staff?
A$127 million in wages and entitlements. With A$34 million in interest and A$8 million in super, NAB is paying about A$169 million in total to about 66,000 workers.[2][3][4]
Was NAB fined?
Not by a court. NAB signed an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman and agreed to a A$2 million contrition payment to the Commonwealth, a record for an FWO undertaking.[2][3][4]
How much will each worker get?
It depends on what you were owed. Payments range from under A$5 to more than A$87,000, with an average of about A$1,934 including interest and super.[2][4]
Which years are covered?
2012 to 2026. NAB first reported the problem in late 2019 but kept underpaying some staff until this year.[2][3][4]
Have the payments already been made?
Mostly. NAB has paid at least A$155 million so far and says it is still finding the rest of the affected staff.[1][4]
References
- "66,000 NAB workers owed $169 million in mass underpayment". Nick Bonyhady, The Sydney Morning Herald. November 12, 2026.
- "NAB hit with $169m bill for underpaying 66,000 staff". Farid Farid, Australian Associated Press (AAP). November 12, 2026.
- "NAB cops huge bill for underpaying staff". David Hannant, NewsWire via Yahoo Finance. November 12, 2026.
- "Payroll failures behind NAB's $127m underpayment: lessons for HR". Jack Campbell, HRD (Human Resources Director). November 12, 2026.
- "Enforceable Undertaking Notice". NAB News. November 12, 2026.
- "Contact us". Fair Work Ombudsman. Retrieved November 12, 2026.