Background to Investigations:
Lovisa is a company specialising in jewellery. All employees working within the stores are covered by the Lovisa Enterprise Agreement 2014, which specifies the minimum rates of pay and allowances that each person is entitled to expect upon the performance of work.
Adero has become aware that the following practices have occurred at certain stores, which include:
- directing staff not to take meal breaks and/or toilet breaks during periods of extended shifts;
- directing staff to work pre-shift and post-shift hours without compensation; and
- the offering of Individual Flexibility Agreements that require workers to perform additional hours during Christmas sales periods in contravention of industrial instruments and without payment of appropriate overtime rates.
If these practices have occurred across Lovisa stores, Adero may pursue a class action against Lovisa and seek that compensation be paid to any employee whose entitlements were not paid in full.
We are investigating the underpayments on behalf of casual, part-time and full-time employees of Lovisa. This includes team members, senior stylists, assistant store managers, store managers, inventory managers and any other in-store employees.
We would seek to recover underpayments due to breaches of the Lovisa Enterprise Agreement 2014, owed to current and former employees from 2016 to current date.
At this stage, Adero Law seeks your registration for the purpose of completing the necessary investigations prior to the commencement of the claim. If you have any questions please contact enquiries@aderolaw.com.au.
Frequently Asked Questions
Adero anticipates that it will be filing a class action in the period of February 2022.
Once the class action has commenced, Adero Law may send you a retainer for a no win no fee legal service, that is individual to you. You are under no obligations until you receive that document.
Although circumstances can vary, the general structure of a class action proceeding run by Adero Law is as follows:
- A wrongdoing occurs that affects a group of people (claimants) in a similar way.
- Adero’s Claim Origination team investigate the wrongdoing by conducting due diligence investigations and liaising with a lead claimant.
- The claim is filed in Court.
- Pleadings and other Court documents are finalised and filed with the Court.
- Claimants have a chance to opt-out of the class action.
- Evidence is compiled and the claim is prepared for trial.
- If appropriate, mediation or settlement discussions take place between the parties.
- If a settlement agreement is not reached, the claim proceeds to trial.
- Once a settlement agreement has been reached, claimants are notified, and a timetable put in place for any objections or submissions to be made ahead of a hearing.
- A settlement hearing occurs.
- If the settlement is approved, a distribution scheme will be implemented under the guidance of the Court.
Once a class action has commenced, Adero may send you a retainer for a no win no fee legal service that is relevant to your individual claim. This document will contain any terms relevant to the payment of legal fees under a no win no fee contract, and in respect to the ongoing management of the class action.
Yes, Adero considers that the group membership will be for people employed 6 years prior to February 2022. That is, if you worked for Lovisa anytime from 2016, we invite you to register your interest. You can join if you are currently employed or not currently employed by Lovisa.
No. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 340 prevents employers from treating you differently for exercising your workplace rights. It is unlawful to punish an employee in any way for joining a class action. If you believe this has happened to you, contact us at Adero Law and we will promptly investigate.
You can join if you are presently employed or not employed by Lovisa as long as you worked for Lovisa anytime between 2016 and 2022.
Adero will not provide your details to Lovisa Pty Ltd or any third party without your consent. Adero adheres to Australian privacy principles and will store its data in its systems and will not use that material for any third-party purpose. That information is also subject to legal professional rules that Adero adheres to under the ACT rules, and as such you have rights as a consumer of a legal service.