National Australia Bank (NAB) has flagged a financial impact of A$130m ($84.6m) this year, following the discovery of underpayments to its staff.

The revelation came as the bank conducted an internal review, which has led to an anticipated 4.5% increase in operating expenses for the current financial year, attributed to the costs associated with the review and remediation process of payroll discrepancies.

The bank has issued a cautionary note, indicating that the “payroll review and remediation is ongoing and total costs remain uncertain.”

The payroll issues in question pertain to various aspects of employment, including job sharing arrangements, rostering, and the calculation of wage and leave entitlements.

In response to these findings, NAB is commencing remediation with affected staff members and has initiated a comprehensive review into payroll-related benefits, covering both current and certain past agreements.

However, the bank did not disclose the exact number of employees impacted by these payroll errors.

NAB group executive of people and culture Sarah White extended an apology to the staff, stating: “Paying our colleagues correctly is an absolute priority.

“We are sorry and apologise to our colleagues that this has happened and have commenced remediating those impacted.”

The bank’s payroll problems were initially uncovered in 2019, with an earlier review identifying a shortfall of A$250m over a two-year period.

The ongoing review, coupled with the implementation of new human resources and payroll platforms, and the transition of staff to a new enterprise agreement, has brought to light additional issues that were announced today.

NAB has committed to engaging with the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Finance Sector Union as part of its efforts to address the payroll concerns.

This news has been met with criticism from Wendy Streets, the national president of the Finance Sector Union, who condemned the underpayment as “systemic wage theft,” particularly during a period when Australians are facing significant cost-of-living challenges.

She asserted that the funds “should never have been taken from workers in the first place.”

Meanwhile, recently, the Big Four bank was in the news, along with its subsidiary AFSH Nominees (AFSH), for ignoring customers in financial distress.

The Federal Court mandated that NAB and AFSH pay a total of A$15.5m in penalties for their inadequate response to customers facing financial problems.