12 December 2024

The University of Sydney will complete more than $23 million in payments, including superannuation and interest, to more than 14,000 underpaid staff as part of entering into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Under the EU, the University must also make a $500,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund and implement a broad range of measures to ensure compliance with workplace laws going forward.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the commitments secured under the Enforceable Undertaking would help to drive cultural change across the University of Sydney and the wider university sector.

“The University of Sydney has acknowledged its governance failures and breaches, and has responded by committing significant time and resources to put in place corrective measures that will ensure both full remediation of impacted staff and improved compliance for the future,” Ms Booth said.

“These measures will also enhance information sharing and consultation between University of Sydney employees and its governance bodies – boosting worker voice – to promote the finding and resolution of any future compliance issues within the workplace.”

An Enforceable Undertaking was appropriate as the University had cooperated with the FWO’s investigation and demonstrated a strong commitment to complete rectification.

“The Fair Work Ombudsman will use EUs to oversee employers completing large-scale remediation reviews, where those employers are willing to be open with their approach and we can ensure that it is robust and lawful.”

“Under the EU, in addition to rectifying the small remaining part of the confirmed underpayments to date, the University has committed to complete the ongoing Casual Academic Review, and to rectify any further underpayments found,” Ms Booth said.

“The University is also to commission, at its own cost, at least one independent audit to check it is meeting all employee entitlements.”

The University of Sydney has so far calculated a total of more than $19 million in underpaid wages and other entitlements owed, with an additional $3.2 million in interest and nearly $950,000 in superannuation, for 14,727 current and former employees for work performed between January 2014 and June 2022.

It has so far rectified $20.49 million.

“Improving universities’ compliance with their workplace obligations is an ongoing priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman. We look forward to working with the leadership teams at universities nationally to assist them to do the sustained, smart work required to ensure full compliance with workplace laws,” Ms Booth said.

Individual underpayments that have been calculated to date range from $1 to $83,271. Most were underpaid about $1,300, excluding interest and superannuation.

Under the terms of the EU, the University of Sydney has acknowledged it underpaid a range of entitlements owed under its previous Enterprise Agreements, including base rates of pay; minimum engagement periods for casuals; payment for leave including leave loading; overtime, including meal allowance and TOIL entitlements; shift penalties and loadings; higher duties allowances; and marking and tutorial rates.

The University also acknowledged record-keeping breaches, involving failing to make and keep records in relation to rates of remuneration; hours of work; allowances, penalty rates or loadings; and overtime hours.

“Record-keeping is the bedrock of compliance and we expect all employers to make and keep all records the law requires,” Ms Booth said.

Underpayments affected permanent and casual professional employees, and permanent and casual academics.

The ongoing work undertaking calculations of underpayments under the Casual Academic Review relates only to casual academic employees. To date this review has identified 2,534 currently affected employees being underpaid a total of about $12.6 million.

The underpayments calculated to date (excluding the Casual Academic Review) occurred across all five faculties and all three University schools, and across all NSW campuses.

Systemic failures in compliance, operational controls and governance processes were key causes of the underpayments. Under the terms of the EU, the University has agreed to a range of measures to ensure future compliance, including:

• Completing its Casual Academic Review within 18 months, including rectification and payment of interest and superannuation to employees that the University has been able to locate. It must provide regular updates to the regulator about the progress of the review and the methodologies it is using to calculate underpayments;
• Paying to the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund any underpayment sum owed to former employees who cannot be found and pay interest and superannuation on such underpayment to any former employees the FWO subsequently locates (this is separate to the Contrition Payment);
• Training all staff responsible for the management of employees, human resources, recruitment and payroll on employee entitlements;
• Maintaining its employee payments complaint and review mechanism, and report back to the FWO regularly on the specifics of any complaints or review requests that relate to matters under the EU;
• Telling staff about the EU through an intranet notice and an all-staff email;
• Ensuring that any systemic contraventions of workplace laws are reported to the FWO and the University’s Joint Consultative Committee (established under its 2023 Enterprise Agreement); and
• Including a standing agenda item to discuss and address the University’s compliance with the EU and its workplace law obligations (including items raised in the Joint Consultative Committee) at the relevant sub-committee of the University of Sydney Senate; and a standing agenda item at meetings of the University Senate to receive the sub-committee’s reports on that compliance.

Since announcing in 2022 that addressing systemic non-compliance in the university sector was a top priority, the Fair Work Ombudsman has also entered into Enforceable Undertakings with the University of Melbourne, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Newcastle and Charles Sturt University, and commenced ongoing legal action against the University of NSW.

Employers and employees can call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 or visit www.fairwork.gov.au for free advice and assistance. An interpreter service is available on 13 14 50.