Sydney University to Pay Over $23 Million to Underpaid Staff in Settlement

The University of Sydney has been ordered to pay more than $23 million in backpay to current and former employees after entering an enforceable undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).

The underpayment affects over 14,000 workers and includes backpay for superannuation and interest over an eight-year period, covering both current and past employees.

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.

The University has acknowledged multiple violations, including issues with record-keeping. These breaches involve the failure to properly document important details such as remuneration rates, work hours, allowances, penalty rates, loadings, and overtime hours.

Ongoing Wage Theft and Staff Underpayment Scandals Rock USyd

USyd has been a hotbed of controversy in recent years due to ongoing allegations of wage theft and staff underpayment.

In 2021, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) made a $2 million claim for unpaid labour on behalf of 80 academics at the university. 

Damien Cahill, Secretary of the NSW division of the National Tertiary Education Union, stated that the claim, which has been forwarded to the university’s human resources department, merely highlights the scale of the issue.

“This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of wage theft at Sydney University and everywhere else,” Dr Cahill said at the time. 

University Spends Millions on Consultants, Shortchanging Underpaid Staff

Just two months ago, USyd admitted to Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, Chair of the Education Committee, that it had spent millions more on calculating and administering its liability for chronic academic wage underpayments than on actual remediation payments.

The total costs for external contractors and consultants, including PwC, far exceeded the amount paid to casual academic staff and nearly matched the total value of remediation payments across all other professional staff work streams.

Greens NSW MLC and spokesperson for Public Accountability Abigail Boyd described the figures as “damning”. 

“They can’t continue pleading ignorance, the cat has been out of the bag for years, but the University management seems determined to run down the clock at the expense of a heavily casualised and underpaid workforce simply waiting to receive what is rightfully owed them.”

“These latest revelations are a damning indictment and speak to a broken governance culture at one of our state’s most prestigious universities. This is far from an isolated incident – we can be all but certain that if it’s happening at Usyd, these governance failures are happening at universities right across the country,” Boyd said. 

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,” FWO Booth said.

NTEU celebrates wage repayment announcement 

The NTEU called the $23 million payment a “significant win for workers” just four days after it was announced that University of Melbourne would repay $72 million owed to staff.

“Both enforceable undertakings incorporate a commitment to embedding a voice for workers that gives a direct role for unions to raise wage theft and workplace law compliance with management,” the NTEU said. 

“NTEU members have fought hard for an end to systemic wage theft in higher education, with more than 30 universities implicated in scandals affecting upwards of 142,000 staff,” the statement read. 

NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said in a statement, “Unfortunately, university managements have sought to downplay systemic wage theft despite 142,000 staff experiencing the devastating consequences of not being paid what they deserve.”

“The Ombudsman has listened to the NTEU and adopted a blueprint that must be rolled out nationally to end this shameful scourge on higher education,” Dr Barnes, speaking on behalf of the NTEU, said.

Barnes urged Education Minister Jason Clare to adopt “this template” as he follows through on his commitment to address wage theft at universities.

“All vice-chancellors should be on notice that our union will stop at nothing to get them to take their heads out of the sand and back in worker voices that will end wage theft,” Dr Barnes said.