University of Sydney to back pay staff $23m after PwC payroll review
The underpayments affect around 15,000 current and former employees, according to an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The University of Sydney will repay over $23 million to nearly 15,000 staff after admitting to compliance and record-keeping failures in an enforceable undertaking signed with the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The university also agreed to pay a $500,000 “contrition payment” to the government and overhaul its processes to prevent further non-compliance, the FWO said on Thursday.
It comes just days after the regulator announced it secured an enforceable undertaking with the University of Melbourne for $72 million in underpayments affecting more than 25,000 staff.
Ombudsman Anna Booth said the University of Sydney acknowledged its governance failures and breaches.
“[The university] 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,” 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.”
According to the enforceable undertaking, the university self-reported its breaches in August 2020 after discovering them when it engaged PwC to conduct a small sample payroll review.
Following the self-report, PwC conducted two further payroll reviews, finding more than $19 million owed in underpaid wages and other entitlements, with an additional $3.2 million in interest and nearly $950,000 in superannuation.
Documents provided to the NSW parliament’s education committee in October showed the university spent at least $21.6 million on payroll reviews, paying external consultants – including PwC – $12.3 million.
The FWO said the university’s underpayments affected 14,727 current and former employees, both permanent and casual, for work performed between January 2014 and June 2022.
They occurred across all five faculties, all three university schools, and across all NSW campuses.
The FWO said the University of Sydney had so far rectified $20.49 million and acknowledged it underpaid a range of entitlements.
These included base pay rates; minimum engagement periods for casuals; payment for leave including leave loading; overtime, including meal allowance and entitlements; shift penalties and loadings; higher duties allowances; and marking and tutorial rates.
It also acknowledged record-keeping failures such as failing to make and keep records about remuneration rates; 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,” Booth said.
As part of the enforceable undertaking, the University of Sydney agreed to a range of measures to ensure future compliance including a review of its payments to casual academics within 18 months with regular updates to the FWO and providing mandatory staff training involved in employee management.
It also committed to maintaining an employee complaints mechanism, communicating the undertaking’s details to staff, implementing a reporting process for systemic workplace law contraventions, and establishing standing agenda items at meetings of the university senate to discuss and monitor ongoing compliance with workplace law obligations.
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