Hidden wages risks in the Financial Services and Insurance industry: Could coverage be more extensive than you realise?

Recent underpayment matters and increased scrutiny of payroll compliance have prompted many employers to take a fresh look at award coverage across their workforce. For financial services and insurance businesses, the challenge is often not whether the Banking, Finance and Insurance (BFI) Award applies at all, but whether its potential reach across the organisation has been fully understood.

Many employers are familiar with the application of the BFI Award to traditional banking, finance and insurance roles. What is often less well understood is the breadth of positions potentially captured by the Award, including HR professionals, compliance personnel, learning and development staff, accountants, business analysts and administrative employees. As a result, organisations may identify obvious roles for consideration while overlooking support and corporate functions that could also fall within the Award's classification structure.

Sarah Wood, Partner in Clyde & Co's Employment team, says:

"Following recent underpayment cases and increased regulatory scrutiny, employers are taking a closer look at whether they have the appropriate records to determine whether salaried employees are receiving at least the entitlements they would have received under an applicable award. For financial services and insurance businesses, an important first step is understanding whether employees are covered by the BFI Award and, if so, how extensive that coverage may be across the organisation."

Hidden award risk for insurers

Many insurers may not realise that claims officers, underwriters, analysts, HR professionals and administrative staff can potentially be covered by the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award.

While claims and underwriting roles are often front of mind, the Award may also extend to a range of support functions across the business, including HR, compliance, learning and development, finance and administration.

For organisations paying annual salaries, the existence of award-covered roles can create significant compliance risks if there aren’t sufficient records to show that remuneration arrangements have been assessed against applicable Award obligations, including minimum rates of pay, overtime, penalty rates and allowances.

Beyond insurance

The same considerations apply across the broader financial services sector. Banks, wealth managers, stockbrokers, financial planners, fintechs, payment providers, lending businesses and transaction-processing organisations frequently employ personnel in roles that may fall within the BFI Award classification structure. Depending on the nature of the work performed, this may include relationship managers, business analysts, compliance personnel, accountants, customer service employees, team leaders and administrative staff.
For many organisations, the challenge is not determining whether the BFI Award applies at all. Rather, it is understanding how extensively it may apply across the business.

How extensive could award coverage issues be across your business?

To help organisations identify potential areas of exposure, Clyde & Co has developed a confidential Award Check survey. The survey is designed to provide employers with a quick indication of whether employees within their organisation may fall within classifications contained in the BFI Award. Based on the responses provided, Clyde & Co's Employment team can conduct a complimentary preliminary review and provide an initial assessment of how extensive potential award coverage may be across the organisation, and whether a more detailed review may be warranted.

For many employers, the results may reveal that award coverage extends further across the business than initially anticipated.

Complete the confidential Award Check 

Click To View Survey

For further information, please contact Sarah Wood – Lead Partner, Employment.