On 24 January 2025 Adero filed a proceeding in the Federal Court against Lovisa Pty Ltd, alleging breaches of both the 2014 and 2022 Lovisa Enterprise Agreements and seeking compensation for any employee that was not paid in full.
The class action claim alleges multiple serious contraventions of Lovisa’s own Enterprise Agreements and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), with the unlawful conduct spanning over a decade and impacting an estimated 1000 current and former employees.
Group Members allege that Lovisa engaged in practices and conduct including:
- 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.
We have had discussions with affected ex-employees of Lovisa who have quoted the following in relation to their experiences and employment at Lovisa:
“There were times I shut the store without the regional manager knowing so I could go to the bathroom.”
~Store Manager, VIC
“The regional manager told me that if people were clocking in or out exactly in the rostered time, she would change the clock in time to reflect the rostered time.”
~Store Manager, QLD
“If they [Lovisa employees] were sick they would still be forced to come in to work despite having a medical certificate.”
~Team Member, VIC
Our investigation has determined that these practices have affected part-time and full-time employees of Lovisa. This includes team members, assistant store managers and store managers.
The firm now has over 500 registered Group Members who worked for the Lovisa between 2019 and 2025, and estimates that the Company owes Group Members significant amounts in respect of underpayments, interest and penalties.
We encourage both current and former staff to contact us to see if they are eligible to participate in the class action. If you have any questions please contact lovisaclassaction@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.