ALDI Class Action

The ALDI Class Action was started in October 2023. There are three applicants, Ms Kelly Boi, Ms Souad Tannous Lichaa and Mr Harinder Pal. Ms Boi and Ms Lichaa are former store employees and Mr Pal is a former warehouse employee of ALDI.

The applicants’ solicitors are AJ Macken & Co. Mr Dominic Macken is the principal lawyer.

The respondent in the ALDI Class Action is ALDI Foods Pty Limited.

The applicants allege that ALDI Foods breached the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) by, amongst other things, requiring employees to work unpaid for periods before and after their shifts. ALDI Foods denies the allegations.

If you want to see exactly how the applicants’ claims are expressed, you can see the “Statement of Claim”

If you fit the description of a ‘group member’ in the “Am I eligible for the class action?” section above, then you are likely to be covered by the proposed Settlement and you may be entitled to some part of the Settlement money which ALDI Foods has agreed to pay.

If you are or were an ALDI Foods store employee, ALDI has agreed to make a payment to you for possible pre-shift and post shift work and pay superannuation as well as a separate payment of interest calculated in each case pursuant to an agreed formula.  The calculation of interest is intended to compensate you for the delay in making these payments to you.

ALDI Foods has in some cases made payments to employees for periods falling outside the claim period of the ALDI Class Action and where this has occurred, it is part of the terms of settlement that these payments will be deducted from any amount of interest calculated to be due to you.  Some of you have also already received payments from ALDI Foods in relation to the claims made in the proceeding and are only entitled to receive a top up payment as part of the terms of settlement.  Some of you have not been paid at all to this point in time.

If you are or were an ALDI Foods warehouse employee, the terms of settlement are essentially the same as for ALDI store employees but the claim for warehouse employees is limited to pre-shift work and the methodology for calculating the payment is slightly different. Warehouse employees who have not been identified by ALDI to have performed any pre-commencement tasks will not receive any payment.

Store Managers or Assistant Store Managers who have previously had their time in lieu accrual adjusted or paid out to reflect the difference between their punch times and their rostered shift start and finish times for the period 20 March 2017 to 23 March 2023 will not receive any further payment or benefit.

VIEW THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT DISTRIBUTION SCHEME

No.

The formal registration process for settlement payments has not yet opened.

Workers do not need to contact the SDA or provide banking or superannuation details at this stage.

If the Court grants final approval, further steps will be taken to identify eligible workers, calculate entitlements and arrange payments. The SDA will publish updates when the formal settlement registration process begins.

The optional SDA updates form on this page is only for receiving communications from the SDA.

The usual rule in court cases in Australia is that the losing party has to pay the winner’s legal costs.  This is called the “adverse costs rule”.

The adverse costs rule does not apply to group members in class actions.  If the class action fails, only the three named applicants can be ordered to pay the respondent’s legal costs.  As well, in cases in relation to matters arising under the Fair Work Act, (the ALDI Class Action is such a case), applicants are not usually exposed to the risk of a costs order and group members cannot be ordered to pay the respondent’s legal costs except in very special circumstances.  Those circumstances will not arise in the ALDI Class Action unless and until you are warned about them and given an opportunity to decide whether to take that risk.

As part of the Settlement, the SDA has agreed to reimburse the applicants for the time and effort that they have put in to start and maintain the ALDI Class Action on behalf of group members.  This reimbursement payment will be $10,000 to each applicant to be paid on top of any amount of compensation that they are entitled to receive as part of the Settlement money.

The SDA has decided that it will not ask the Court to approve the deduction of any money to pay its costs of funding the ALDI Class Action from the group members’ compensation. The SDA is recovering its costs from ALDI Foods by way of a separately negotiated agreement and on top of the compensation payable to the applicants and the group members in the Settlement.

No.

You do not need to complete a form to remain a group member.

Unless you opt out by the Court-ordered deadline, you will remain part of the class action and will be bound by the Court’s decision concerning the proposed settlement.

If the settlement is approved, remaining group members will generally be prevented from later bringing another claim against ALDI concerning the same alleged unpaid pre-shift or post-shift work.

Read the Group Member Notice carefully before making any decision.

The following documents are available below:

Federal Court Orders and Group Member Notice
Court-approved Group Member Notice
Notice of Objection
Opt-Out Form
Statement of Claim
Proposed Settlement Distribution Scheme
Originating Application
Statement of Claim for the SDA Penalty Claim

Workers should begin by reading the Group Member Notice, which explains the process and their rights.

Please read the Group Member Notice before contacting the SDA, as it answers the main questions about the settlement and opt-out process.

For further information:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 08 8139 1000

If you think you might want to object to the Settlement, or opt out, you can contact the SDA on the number above, or seek independent legal advice.  If you are thinking about objecting or opting out then it is important that you make your enquiries and your decision quickly, because there is a deadline as explained above.

Please do not ask the staff at the Federal Court Registry for advice, as the Court’s staff are not allowed to give legal advice.