Australian mining giant BHP said a preliminary review suggests that certain rostered employees across its Australian operations have had leave incorrectly deducted for public holidays since 2010.

BHP added that there are approximately 28,500 affected current and former employees with an average of six leave days in total that have been incorrectly deducted from affected employees over this 13-year period. 

Initial investigations also suggest that OZ Minerals has been affected by a similar leave deduction issue before being acquired by BHP in May 2023.

In addition, BHP has identified that approximately 400 current and former employees at Port Hedland are entitled to additional allowances due to an error with the employment entity in their contract.

BHP estimated that the cost of remediating the leave issue and the contracting issue will be up to USD 280 million pre-tax, incorporating on costs including associated superannuation and interest payments (BHP share).

Geraldine Slattery, President Australia said, “We are sorry to all current and former employees impacted by these errors. This is not good enough and falls short of the standards we expect at BHP. We are working to rectify and remediate these issues, with interest, as quickly as possible.”

BHP has self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman. The group added that it will contact affected current and former employees regarding remediation as soon as possible and a dedicated hotline and website will be established to provide assistance from Friday. Furthermore, Protiviti, a global assurance firm and subsidiary of Robert Half, has been engaged to conduct a thorough review of its payroll systems.