The Australian National University has admitted to underpaying 2290 workers a total of $2 million, an average of $599 each, over 11 years due to casual timesheet processing errors.
A frequenty asked questions page about the issue on ANU's website outlines that casual staff manually enter their worked hours into the university's payroll system, which then goes to a supervisor to approve.
However, a fault in the system forced submitted hours worked to be deleted after two weeks, so supervisors were unable to see or approve the timesheets that had sat for that time.
The admission also includes 130 identified on-call staff who were not paid correctly after picking up emergency work for the uni. ANU also said it is investigating inconsistencies regarding overtime eligibility for on-call staff required to work outside regular hours.
The discoveries follow a Fair Work Ombudsman inquiry into one casual ANU staff member who was underpaid, which prompted the university to investigate its timesheet and payroll processes.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is persisting in calling for a parliamentary inquiry after ANU announced the underpayments.
The union in June published research that projects total underpayments by Australian universities to exceed $400m.
NTEU ACT secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy said insecure work is the bigger issue behind the chronic casual pay issues in the university sector.
“Wage theft is a symptom of what is not well in Australia’s universities, but the underlying disease is insecure work," he said.
“These underpayments were only possible due to the casualised nature of the work.
“We know that when workers are employed insecurely, they are less likely to report workplace issues, which is why this can go undetected for so long.
“This is a governance issue which must be addressed by the Australian Universities Accord process.”
Union vocational education RMIT staff strike
NTEU members at RMIT University are striking for two weeks from last Thursday for higher pay and better conditions, the longest strike in RMIT history.
The VET staff's enterprise agreement with the university expired 900 days ago, with the delayed renewal due to disagreements in remuneration and working conditions between the institution and staff.
NTEU Victorian secretary Sarah Roberts said members "resoundingly voted" against the offers the university have made, which, according to the union, have not been improved deals.
“RMIT’s vocational education teachers have been forced into an unprecedented two-week strike by management’s refusal to get serious on a fair pay rise,” she said.
“A lot of vocational education teachers at RMIT are juggling multiple jobs just to put food on the table, while the vice-chancellor pockets upwards of $1m a year.
“Vocational education is absolutely essential because it’s a common entry point to tertiary study for lower socioeconomic groups and marginalised learners.
“Instead of being rewarded for their tireless efforts, vocational education teachers have been confronted with aggressive industrial tactics."
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