ANU self-reports to FWO over estimated $2m in missed payments

An “error in timesheet processing” has resulted in underpayments over a decade for nearly 2,300 employees of the Australian National University.

ANU, one of the country’s most renowned tertiary education providers, has identified that it missed payments to 2,290 former and current casual employees as the result of an “error in timesheet processing”.

The estimated value of the missed payments is $2 million, with a median missed payment per impacted staff member of $600.

“The missed payments were caused by unactioned timesheets submitted by casual staff that weren’t brought to the attention of the university. The error was due to a system configuration,” the university said.

“ANU has taken immediate steps to rectify the system error that caused the missed payments and ensure the error is avoided in future.”

Moreover, ANU’s investigation into the timesheet error further identified a secondary payment issue potentially affecting up to 120 staff undertaking emergency and on-call duties.

ANU continues to investigate this secondary matter, it stressed, “and will pay any outstanding allowances”.

The university has already paid $261,000 to some 220 staff for missed payments in the 2023–24 financial year, it noted.

ANU will pay all affected staff any missed payments they are owed, including superannuation entitlements plus interest, it said.

The statement further noted that the university is “unreservedly apologising” to all those affected.

As a result of the identification, ANU has self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman and has undertaken an extensive investigation of the issue, which spans 11 years.

Speaking about the underpayments, ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell said the university is “deeply sorry” for the error.

“ANU apologises to all staff affected by this error and any hardship, challenges and stress this may have caused,” she said.

“We value all our staff and the vital contribution they make to our operations as a world-class university and are deeply sorry that some staff have been impacted by this error. ANU is taking immediate and comprehensive action to remedy this situation and to ensure it does not happen again.”

“The university has voluntarily notified the Fair Work Ombudsman of the error, as well as the corrective steps taken by the university to avoid a similar error in future. ANU has also notified staff that our investigations have identified as being impacted by this error and is working to remediate all missed payments as soon as possible,” Bell said.

“While this error has occurred in the past, we are confident that we have taken the necessary corrective measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again. ANU is committed to recognising and compensating all staff for their hard work and vital contribution to our university and its operations.”

In addition to its notification to FWO, the university has also engaged KPMG to assist with the investigation and to ensure remediation of any outstanding allowances “occurs as quickly as possible”.