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Popular bakery owes staff almost $250,000 in super, but 'payday' super could protect workers
Popular hospitality group All Are Welcome owes almost a quarter of a million dollars in superannuation to its current and former employees, with many staff feeling worried and concerned they won't see the money they are owed.
The Insta-famous bakery — with locations in Melbourne's Northcote, Thornbury and East Ivanhoe — entered voluntary administration in February this year after accruing more than $1 million in debts.
Documents shared with the ABC reveal staff are owed $243,000 in superannuation and $125,000 in leave entitlements, with the total amount owed to the ATO standing around $1.4 million.
But, according to the administrator's report, the original director — Boris Portnoy — bought back the business after it entered into voluntary administration, with question marks over whether he will carry over the former business's liabilities.
"[It's] quite concerning because I don't have confidence that I'm going to see that money," one former employee told the ABC.
The former staff member, who has asked not to be named, says they found out about the lack of super payments in March this year.
"When we received a correspondence from the administrators on the 12th of March which had some information about the business, including a section that stated how much money was owed in super, which prompted myself and others to go and check our super accounts properly."
They say, despite their pay slips including superannuation contributions, this money was not reflected in their accounts.
"It was clear that we hadn't been paid any super payments since around sort of September last year, which is around sort of eight or nine months worth of no super payments," they say.
Multiple former staff from the bakery have told the ABC they are each owed thousands of dollars in superannuation.
"[I felt] disappointed because we were led to feel quite responsible for the financial situation of the business in that there was a lot of pressure put on all of us as employees in terms of keeping the roster as tight as we can and ordering as tight as we can in order to sort of get the business across the line," said one former worker.
"Then to find out that we've been withheld entitlements and hadn't been told, felt like a bit of a blindside."
The former employee says there was no communication from the director and when they tried to seek answers from him, nothing was clear.
"The explanation of why we weren't paid super was that the business had been struggling financially and that was a method that he was able to use in order to help him with cash flow for the business," they said.
But they say nothing was provided in writing, and there was no clear timeframe on when staff may see their money.
"I'm not sure what's changed in order to allow him to pay that moving forward in a different manner."
During this period, Mr Portnoy also lent himself $235,028 through his family trust, which documents reveal "were made to him in lieu of a wage".
In a statement to the ABC, Mr Portnoy said: "As part of the business purchase all outstanding employee entitlements are to be assumed by the new company.
"The timing for the payment of the superannuation is being determined by the administrators and we will have a firm timeline after finalisation of the liquidation," he said.
The administrator did not respond to the ABC's request for comment.
Superannuation advocates have been pushing for "payday super" to help minimise this problem.
"Payday super, as it sounds on the tin, is your super paid on the same day as your wages," said Mary Delahunty, chief executive officer of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
Some employers already do this, but it's not a requirement. If the law changes, everyone will get their superannuation payments at the same time as their wages.
If it had been in place, the former staff of All Are Welcome are unlikely to have had such a large amount of super owing to them.
Superannuation is not covered under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, which protects some of the money owed to workers when a business goes under.
"They are due to be paid. Unpaid super is an obligation still, even through a liquidation process. And they have a priority sort of setting in the liquidation processes," Ms Delahunty said.
She said the most common way people were paid wages was fortnightly, "but monthly is also very common". Payments to superannuation however are most commonly paid either quarterly or monthly.
Because of this, some small businesses use superannuation payments as a kind of overdraft or "credit card", helping them to smooth cash flow issues — when the timing of income and payments doesn't line up.
Payday super should allow such problems to be seen sooner, she adds.
"It would allow for non-compliance with payments to be seen more regularly … [people] could chase it up and the ATO could do their reckoning of that non-compliance in a more timely manner."
Essentially, flagging problems before they get bigger.
The laws, which are meant to take effect in July 2026, haven't even passed Parliament yet and a lobby group representing accountants is asking for a two-year delay.
Richard Webb, superannuation lead at CPA Australia, says the industry supports the intent of payday super and the idea that people should have their deferred remuneration — such as superannuation — paid at the same time as their wages.
"But the reality is that the infrastructure and the spend that many businesses will need to do to make sure that their systems are up for it is simply not doable by that time," he argues.
Most workers simply receive their pay in their bank account.
But for the people on the other end pushing money through the financial pipes, it's a lot harder.
The Single Touch Payroll system means, for the vast majority of Australian employees, data is sent to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) at the same time the wages or salary are paid to the employee's bank account.
"But in the case of superannuation contributions, there's a lot more data needed to be sent at the same time as contributions themselves," Mr Webb says.
"So the cash goes one way, the data goes the other. It meets at an intermediary who mixes the data and the cash together and makes sure they all match up. And then it sends the data the various separate ways to various separate super funds [for individual employees]."
That's not the only problem. Many Australians work in roles that attract penalties and bonuses, such as extra pay for unsociable hours and weekend work.
Others receive commissions on sales that can take time to be calculated — such as when the product is delivered or when the client pays — making the amount of super for a defined period like a fortnight difficult to accurately calculate.
CPA Australia represents 170,000 accountants dotted throughout the world, with members working in different areas of accounting, finance and regulation.
Mr Webb agrees the current system needs to change.
When it goes bad and employees are short-changed, Mr Webb adds, the delay can make it harder to ascertain the figures owed.
"So we think that having them paid near each other makes it a lot easier ultimately for employers, who are paying smaller amounts out rather than one big lump sum at the end of the quarter," he said.
"It means that everyone can have everything nicely and neatly bundled in the same place where they can see it."
But he doesn't see the industry ready by the mooted deadline of July 1, 2026.
Even workers who don't suffer the misfortune of their employer going under could benefit.
Due to the effect of compound interest — the returns from investments and interest building on top of itself — just the shift to more frequent payments will boost the retirement savings of millions.
ASFA's Mary Delahunty says a shift from being paid superannuation quarterly (once every three months) to every fortnight will add up.
