Coles
Harm on record. Has recent confirmed harm to workers that it hasn't put right.
Last researched 2 November 2026 · 15 sources
Australian supermarket chain selling groceries, owned by Coles Group.
In 2025, a court found Coles' salaried store managers weren't paid their full award entitlements, such as overtime, in each pay period.
Also worth knowing
Coles has only partly put this right.
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Why it's graded Harm on record
- Not met: Meets 3 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It doesn't show that workers are paid a living wage, and isn't certified as working towards one. On Track needs at least one of these.
- Holds the grade back: It's Harm on record because of a serious confirmed problem from the last 5 years that it has only partly put right: unpaid or underpaid wages, last recorded in 2025.
- Checks its own supply chain. Coles looks for problems in its own supply chain and publishes what it finds. It found unpaid or underpaid wages in 2026 and is fixing it, so it doesn't count against the grade. Other problems on its record count against the grade: unpaid or underpaid wages in 2025 and unpaid or underpaid wages in 2017. They're listed below under Confirmed issues.
Good requirements 3 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Met: Respects worker rights
- Met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Met: No confirmed child or forced labour findings or linksAn unconfirmed report of forced labour is listed below. It doesn't affect the grade.
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
- Not met: Farm and labour hire checks published, and high-risk ingredients (palm oil and tomato paste and canned tomatoes) traced or certified where they're a major part of its rangeNot traced or certified: palm oil
Red flags 1
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
Coles names some of the countries it makes in: Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Thailand, China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Chile and the United States. The rest is shown as where own-brand and fresh food is usually grown or made.
| Country | Share | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 55% | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
| China | Not given | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| New Zealand | Not given | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
| Thailand | Not given | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Italy | Not given | Strong protections | Close to a living wage | Low |
| India | Not given | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| Vietnam | Not given | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Malaysia | Not given | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Indonesia | Not given | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| South Africa | Not given | Regular violations | Below a living wage | Low |
| Chile | Not given | Regular violations | Below a living wage | Low |
| United States | Not given | Systematic violations | Below a living wage | Low |
Evidence
What we found
- Modern slavery statement
- Requires Fair Farms certification or ethical audits of the Australian farms and meatworks that supply its fruit, vegetables and meat Source
- Independent social audits of all its main factories
- Employs its store cleaners and trolley collectors directly, or uses certified contractors
- It requires ethical audits or Fair Farms certification of its Australian suppliers, but doesn't publish what the checks find and what workers were repaid, so it can't show that farm and labour hire workers get what they're owed. Source
- Doesn't show where its palm oil comes from. Palm oil is linked to forced and child labour on some Malaysian and Indonesian plantations, so it can't be graded Good until it traces or certifies it.
- Uses tomato paste and canned tomatoes in only a few products and doesn't show where they come from. That doesn't count against it for Good, but the "Open supply chain" star needs all of them traced, certified or upcycled.
Research notes Coles has 1,850 suppliers in its ethical sourcing programme, 1,253 in Australia (56% of those in fresh produce) and 597 overseas across 43 countries, such as Italy for canned tomatoes, Thailand for canned fish and China for non-food goods; it doesn't name its suppliers or give shares by volume. It requires ethical audits, accepting Fair Farms and Sedex, and publishes audit counts, problems found and a quarterly log of complaints against suppliers, but not amounts repaid to workers; only 19 of 1,281 audits in FY25 were unannounced. It directly employs trolley collectors and is mapping own-brand palm oil to the mill. Its own-brand coffee, tea, chocolate and seafood are graded in separate Labour Lens records, including a 2015 forced labour finding at a Thai Union prawn supplier.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| KnowTheChain | Listed | Coles Group scored 55 out of 100 and ranked 2nd of 45 companies in the 2026 KnowTheChain Food & Beverage Benchmark, up from 46 in 2023; it does not publish a first-tier supplier list. View |
| Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (World Benchmarking Alliance) | Listed | Coles Group scored 81 out of 100 in the 2026 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, above the 53.7 average. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Listed | Coles Group Limited lodges a joint modern slavery statement covering Coles Supermarkets Australia; the FY25 statement reports 1,281 supplier audits (19 unannounced), 1,154 critical problems and 17 supply chain grievances. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Problem found | Reports the 2026 allegation that about 20 workers at Corrigan's Farm, which supplies Coles and Woolworths, worked without pay through a labour hire firm under investigation. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | The US Department of Labor's 2024 list names tomato products from China, palm fruit and palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and fish and shrimp from Thailand as made with forced labour; Coles sells own-brand tomato products and canned fish from Thailand and uses palm oil. View |
Confirmed issues 3
Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted
| Last recorded | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Coles' published log of complaints against its suppliers records substantiated underpayment at several fresh produce, meat and service suppliers from 2024 to 2026, and mistreatment, underpayment and unfit accommodation at a direct fresh produce supplier confirmed by an external audit in 2026 (Coles Group, 2026). Source · search the archiveFound and being fixed by the company Not counted against the grade while the company is actively fixing it, because it found and published it itself. | YesColes' log records repayments to all affected workers in the substantiated underpayment cases, remediation of the 2026 audit findings, and exits from some suppliers. |
| 2025 | The Federal Court found in September 2025 ([2025] FCA 1092), in cases brought by the Fair Work Ombudsman and a class action, that Coles had no overtime system for salaried store managers, kept unreliable records and did not pay them their full award entitlements in each pay period from 2017 to 2020, in a ruling covering about 27,700 Coles and Woolworths staff (SBS, 2025). Source · archived copy | PartlyColes had paid about $30 million by 2025 and set aside $235 million for remediation in FY26; payment of the balance and final court orders hadn't been reported. |
| 2017 | The Fair Work Ombudsman took action against contractors who underpaid 10 trolley collectors at Coles stores more than $220,000, and audits under Coles' 2014 enforceable undertaking found further contractor underpayment of 245 workers in 2015, 121 in 2016 and 53 in 2017 (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2017). Source · archived copy | PartlyUnder a 2014 undertaking Coles set up a $500,000 guarantee fund, fixed underpayments later audits found and brought most trolley collection in-house; payment to the first 10 isn't confirmed. |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- Court documents filed by liquidators say at least 20 workers supplied by the labour hire firm BCS Green Corp to Corrigan's Farm in Casey, Victoria, which grows salad vegetables for Coles and Woolworths, are owed more than $260,000 for work in December 2023; Coles said it was investigating (ABC, 2026). Source
- The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges that Bulmer Farms, a Victorian vegetable grower supplying Coles, underpaid 28 Pacific workers on PALM visas $645,567 between 2019 and 2023, including unlawful deductions; the case is before the court (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2025). Source
- Lab testing for ABC Four Corners in 2026 found Coles' own-brand Italian tomato paste tested positive for Chinese-grown tomatoes, where tomato products are on the US forced labour list; Coles rejects the claim and the ACCC is investigating (FoodNavigator, 2026). Source
Sources and actions
Sources 15
Show all 15 sources
- KnowTheChain 2026 Food & Beverage scorecard: Coles · search the archive · 55/100, ranked 2nd of 45 (46 in 2023); no first-tier supplier list; Employer Pays no-fee policy; no 2025 non-conformances related to actual forced labour cases
- Coles Group (Ethical Advisers' Co-op) · search the archive · Corporate Human Rights Benchmark 2026 score 81/100 (average 53.7); KnowTheChain 2026 55/100
- Australia: About 20 farming workers worked without pay, court documents say (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Jan 2026) · search the archive · Coles and Woolworths named as buyers from Corrigan's Farm; allegations of unpaid wages through labour hire
- Victorian vegetable farm allegedly underpaid migrant workers more than $645,000 (Fair Work Ombudsman, 17 Dec 2025) · search the archive · FWO litigation against Bulmer Farms alleging $645,567 underpaid to 28 PALM workers
- List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (US Department of Labor, 2024) · search the archive · 2024 list of goods produced with child or forced labour, including tomato products from China, palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and fish and shrimp from Thailand
- Woolworths and Coles failed record-keeping obligations as underpayment saga continues (SBS News, 5 Sep 2025) · archived copy · Federal Court found Coles failed to operate an overtime system for managers and its clocking records were unreliable; about 27,700 employees to be remediated; Coles case covers 2017 to 2020; Coles said it had paid $30 million in remediation
- Salaried staff overtime costs Coles $235 million in provisions (HRD Australia, 31 Aug 2026) · search the archive · Coles set aside $235 million for employee remediation for salaried team members' uncompensated overtime in its FY26 result
- Fair Work Ombudsman says it's time big business stopped wiping its hands of contractor underpayments (SmartCompany, 10 Mar 2016) · search the archive · Starlink managers penalised $188,000 for underpaying 10 trolley collectors at Coles stores in South Australia more than $220,000
- Workers on Melbourne farm supplying Woolworths, Coles chase unpaid wages (ABC News, 15 Jan 2026) · search the archive · Liquidators' court documents say at least 20 workers supplied to Corrigan's Farm by BCS Green Corp are owed more than $260,000; Coles said it was investigating
- Coles supplier accused of underpaying migrant workers by $645,000 (Inside FMCG, 17 Dec 2025) · search the archive · Bulmer Farms supplies Coles and IGA; allegations from December 2019 to December 2023 not yet decided; $42,189 paid to workers during the investigation
- 'Damning results': Australia investigates alleged food fraud in supermarkets (FoodNavigator, 25 Aug 2026) · search the archive · Coles home-brand Italian tomato paste and ALDI Remano tomato paste tested positive for Chinese origin; ACCC investigating since 7 August 2026
- Australia's largest underpayment case: what you need to know now (BDO, 27 Nov 2025) · search the archive · Court ruled full award entitlements must be paid each pay period; compensation and penalties unresolved
Published by Coles or its owner
- Coles Group Modern Slavery Statement 2025 · search the archive · Over 115,000 team members; 1,850 in-scope suppliers (1,253 Australia, 597 overseas) in 43 countries, with products by country; 1,281 ethical audits (19 unannounced, 316 semi-announced); 1,154 critical non-conformances; 17 grievances (9 underpayment, 6 accommodation); Fair Farms and Sedex
- Human Rights Complaints raised against Coles suppliers (Coles Group, to June 2026) · search the archive · Quarterly log of supplier grievances from October 2021 to June 2026 with allegations and outcomes, including substantiated underpayment cases with repayments to affected workers and a 2026 externally audited fresh produce case
- Status of the enforceable undertaking between the FWO and Coles: 3rd annual report (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2017) · archived copy · 2014 undertaking after contractors underpaid 10 trolley collectors over $200,000; Coles committed to pay them and to a $500,000 guarantee fund; audits found 245 underpaid workers in 2015, 121 in 2016 and 53 in 2017, all corrected; 90% of stores had trolley collection fully in-house by October 2017
Company details
- Owned by
- Coles Group
- Headquarters
- Australia
- Employees
- About 115,000
- Last researched
- 2 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Coles ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/coles, last researched 2 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Harm on record means
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