[Australia] Griffith University signs enforceable undertaking

Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, is to make more than $8.34 million in payments, including interest and superannuation, to 5,457 underpaid staff as part of an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) it has entered into with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Under the EU, the public university, which operates six campuses in Queensland, must also make a contrition payment of $175,000 and implement a broad range of measures to ensure compliance with workplace laws going forward.

The underpaid employees reportedly performed work across all four of Griffith University’s groups (Arts, Education and Law, Business, Health and Sciences) and all six of its campuses (including a virtual campus). The majority were Brisbane-based.

The employees were engaged full-time, part-time and casually as academic, professional, support and fitness staff, and proctors.

In March 2022, the university self-reported non-compliance to the Fair Work Ombudsman, after identifying underpayments under its enterprise agreements and two awards.

The underpayments were due to a combination of insufficient training among course convenors and school administrators, insufficient data collection in onboarding processes, insufficient or non-existent payroll and data review processes, a lack of automation allowing for human error, and deficiencies in various payroll systems.

According to the ombudsman, Griffith University reportedly failed to pay correct rates for initial and repeat tutorials and other academic activities, as well as PhD qualification rates, subject coordination rates, initial session rates, proctor rates and research assistant rates.

In addition, it did not correctly pay employees for minimum daily engagement periods, and did not pay fitness employees split shift and meal allowances. Progressions between pay bands were also incorrectly paid.

In total, Griffith University underpaid 5,457 current and former employees, and is back-paying more than $8.34 million, including interest and superannuation, for work performed between July 2015 and June 2024.

This comprises underpaid wages that exceeded $5.95 million, interest on top of this of more than $1.55 million, and superannuation (and superannuation interest) of about $830,000. To date, the university has remediated $5.83 million (excluding superannuation and interest) to 5,226 employees.

Individual underpayments ranged from less than $1 to more than $92,400, including superannuation and interest.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth reportedly said that an Enforceable Undertaking was appropriate as the university had cooperated with the FWO’s investigation and demonstrated a strong commitment to rectifying its non-compliance issues.

“Griffith University deserves credit for acknowledging its breaches and the underlying issues, and 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.

“The matter serves as a warning of the significant long-running problems that can result from an employer failing to have appropriate checks and balances to ensure workplace compliance. We expect universities to meet their legal obligations under their own enterprise agreements and underlying awards.”

Ms Booth added that the commitments secured under the Enforceable Undertaking, including a consultative body for improved collaboration between university management, employees and their union, would help to drive cultural change across Griffith University and were an example for the wider university sector.

“Improving universities’ workplace compliance is a 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,” she said.

Under the EU, Griffith University reportedly committed to rectify all outstanding underpayments in full, plus interest, and implement a range of measures to ensure future compliance, including:

• updating payroll and record-keeping systems and giving the FWO information about the systems and processes it will implement to ensure future compliance;

• ensuring relevant staff complete additional training regarding their Fair Work obligations;

• commissioning, at its own cost, two independent audits to check it is meeting all employee entitlements, and rectifying any underpayments found;

• maintaining an employee payments complaint and review mechanism;

• establishing a standing body to provide a regular form for tripartite consultation between Griffith University, its employees and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on matters of workplace relations compliance;

• prioritising and embedding within its governing council the monitoring of compliance with Fair Work instruments; and

• informing staff of the EU through an intranet notice, all-staff email and written notice to affected employees.

The university’s contrition payment will reportedly be made to the not-for-profit Cleaning Accountability Framework, which helps ensure fair working conditions for cleaners.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, is to make more than $8.34 million in payments, including interest and superannuation, to 5,457 underpaid staff as part of an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) it has entered into with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Under the EU, the public university, which operates six campuses in Queensland, must also make a contrition payment of $175,000 and implement a broad range of measures to ensure compliance with workplace laws going forward.

The underpaid employees reportedly performed work across all four of Griffith University’s groups (Arts, Education and Law, Business, Health and Sciences) and all six of its campuses (including a virtual campus). The majority were Brisbane-based.

The employees were engaged full-time, part-time and casually as academic, professional, support and fitness staff, and proctors.

In March 2022, the university self-reported non-compliance to the Fair Work Ombudsman, after identifying underpayments under its enterprise agreements and two awards.

The underpayments were due to a combination of insufficient training among course convenors and school administrators, insufficient data collection in onboarding processes, insufficient or non-existent payroll and data review processes, a lack of automation allowing for human error, and deficiencies in various payroll systems.

According to the ombudsman, Griffith University reportedly failed to pay correct rates for initial and repeat tutorials and other academic activities, as well as PhD qualification rates, subject coordination rates, initial session rates, proctor rates and research assistant rates.

In addition, it did not correctly pay employees for minimum daily engagement periods, and did not pay fitness employees split shift and meal allowances. Progressions between pay bands were also incorrectly paid.

In total, Griffith University underpaid 5,457 current and former employees, and is back-paying more than $8.34 million, including interest and superannuation, for work performed between July 2015 and June 2024.

This comprises underpaid wages that exceeded $5.95 million, interest on top of this of more than $1.55 million, and superannuation (and superannuation interest) of about $830,000. To date, the university has remediated $5.83 million (excluding superannuation and interest) to 5,226 employees.

Individual underpayments ranged from less than $1 to more than $92,400, including superannuation and interest.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth reportedly said that an Enforceable Undertaking was appropriate as the university had cooperated with the FWO’s investigation and demonstrated a strong commitment to rectifying its non-compliance issues.

“Griffith University deserves credit for acknowledging its breaches and the underlying issues, and 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.

“The matter serves as a warning of the significant long-running problems that can result from an employer failing to have appropriate checks and balances to ensure workplace compliance. We expect universities to meet their legal obligations under their own enterprise agreements and underlying awards.”

Ms Booth added that the commitments secured under the Enforceable Undertaking, including a consultative body for improved collaboration between university management, employees and their union, would help to drive cultural change across Griffith University and were an example for the wider university sector.

“Improving universities’ workplace compliance is a 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,” she said.

Under the EU, Griffith University reportedly committed to rectify all outstanding underpayments in full, plus interest, and implement a range of measures to ensure future compliance, including:

• updating payroll and record-keeping systems and giving the FWO information about the systems and processes it will implement to ensure future compliance;

• ensuring relevant staff complete additional training regarding their Fair Work obligations;

• commissioning, at its own cost, two independent audits to check it is meeting all employee entitlements, and rectifying any underpayments found;

• maintaining an employee payments complaint and review mechanism;

• establishing a standing body to provide a regular form for tripartite consultation between Griffith University, its employees and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on matters of workplace relations compliance;

• prioritising and embedding within its governing council the monitoring of compliance with Fair Work instruments; and

• informing staff of the EU through an intranet notice, all-staff email and written notice to affected employees.

The university’s contrition payment will reportedly be made to the not-for-profit Cleaning Accountability Framework, which helps ensure fair working conditions for cleaners.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman

(Link and quotes via original reporting)