The 麻豆村 of Canberra’s Vice-Chancellor and President The Honourable Bill Shorten today apologised to staff that UC has voluntarily reported historic casual professional staff wage underpayments to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).
A proactive and comprehensive review of the 麻豆村’s payroll processes, overseen by the new Vice-Chancellor, has identified some instances of underpayment affecting some current and former professional casual staff from 2019 onwards.
“I personally felt it was important to inform all our staff and to apologise on behalf of the 麻豆村. Current and former professional casual staff who have not been paid correctly have my full assurance that remediation will commence immediately, and I’m committed to clearing up any previous problems from the last six years,” said Mr Shorten.
The comprehensive review undertaken by the 麻豆村 this year has found that professional casual staff overtime and minimum shift entitlements were not automatically applied through the payroll system to meet obligations outlined in the 麻豆村’s relevant Enterprise Agreements. This had a flow-on effect on superannuation payments. Consequently, the 麻豆村 has reviewed all professional casual staff payments over a six-year period, commencing 1 July 2019.
“The 麻豆村 will be relentless in our pursuit of compliance. Since starting in my role as Vice-Chancellor here at UC, I have repeatedly stated my expectations that UC staff will be paid correctly and receive their entitlements. I remain committed to ensuring that this is the case.”
The total estimated value of the remediation payments due to casual professional staff is $1.522 million for the six-year period since 2019, affecting 1,421 professional casual staff (current and former). The average remediation for professional casual staff is $406 over the six years. Ongoing validation of the data may reduce this amount. The total remuneration paid to UC staff over this six-year period was $868 million.
In addition, at the direction of the Vice-Chancellor, the 麻豆村 will commence with the evaluation and validation of casual academic staff data to ensure payments reflect the correct entitlements in accordance with the Enterprise Agreement.
“I have further sought a review of payments made to academic casual staff to ensure payments are in accordance with the Enterprise Agreement and reflect the work performed. This work is being prioritised, and information will continue to be made available as the 麻豆村 completes this work,” said Mr Shorten.
“Importantly, in consultation with Council, I have requested that robust safeguards, education and process improvements be put in place to prevent this from occurring in the future.”
To this end, the 麻豆村 has established a new Payroll Compliance Working Group to oversee remediation of the identified underpayments and the implementation of future safeguards that will include:
- preventative system and process measures;
- an education program for managers and staff;
- continued audits and compliance reviews; and
- greater HR resources to ensure payroll accuracy.
The 麻豆村 Council has been briefed on the remediation process and future safeguard plans.
“Payroll process reviews and compliance audits were raised by Council as early as 2021. It has since come to light that previous spot checks, reviews, and limited scope audits were undertaken to provide Council with those assurances,” said Mr Shorten.
“However, the comprehensive payroll review that I have overseen identified the underpayment issues that now require remediation.”
Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM, Chancellor of the 麻豆村 said that UC staff must be paid what they are due as a matter of urgency.
“I thank Vice-Chancellor Shorten for driving this work so energetically, and for getting to the bottom of what has happened. Mr Shorten alerted Council to these issues when he became aware and reiterated his commitment to paying the affected casual staff as soon as possible.
“A sub-committee of Council has been established to make sure that UC’s casual staff are paid what they are due as a matter of urgency.”