UTS seeking to find solutions amid order to pause job cuts over alleged risks of psychological harm

The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) says it remains committed to a “full and meaningful consultation” to address the issues facing the tertiary institution, in the wake of a prohibition notice from SafeWork NSW regarding its reported planned job and course cuts.

As was widely reported yesterday (Wednesday, 3 September), the NSW workplace regulator has issued a prohibition notice to UTS’ plans to axe up to hundreds of jobs, as well as several courses. The notice followed reported emails being sent out to up to 800 staff members, advising them they could be in line to lose their roles under proposed restructures to address the university’s financial troubles.

As reported by The Guardian, UTS notified staff back in April that it was seeking to make up to $100 million in cost cuts, which could result in hundreds of jobs being axed.

However, SafeWork NSW has now issued a prohibition notice to the embattled university, effectively pausing UTS’ plans for now.

In a statement provided to HR Leader, the regulator said it takes psychosocial risks seriously and requires employers to manage them like any other health and safety issue.

A spokesperson said: “SafeWork NSW can confirm a prohibition notice was issued to the University of Technology with regards to allegations of risk of psychological harm. The prohibition notice remains in place until SafeWork NSW is satisfied that the University of Technology has rectified the issues raised within the notice.”

“SafeWork NSW will continue to work with the University of Technology on the matter.”

‘We want to have full and meaningful consultation’

Speaking to HR Leader, a spokesperson for UTS said, in the wake of the prohibition notice, that the safety and wellbeing of staff and the management of psychosocial risks is “of paramount importance to us”.

“We are frustrated by the ongoing delays in releasing the change proposal for consultation and are very concerned about the impact this is having on our community. We are aware of staff expressing concerns about the effect these protracted delays are having on their wellbeing,” the spokesperson said.

“We have been discussing options with staff to address the issues facing the university since late last year, and want to have full and meaningful consultation to find solutions, but to do so, we need to release the change proposal showing what is proposed so they can provide options and suggestions. We have been ready to release the Academic Change Proposal since July.”

The need to reduce expenditure is necessary, the spokesperson continued, “as we have had deficits for five years, and our revenue does not cover our ongoing operating costs”. 

“This is not financially or operationally sustainable, as continued losses erode our cash position and have the potential to compromise our ongoing operations,” the spokesperson said.

“It’s important we address this to protect and invest in our teaching, research and our students.”

Union claims victory

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has argued that it has presented viable alternatives to the cuts through extensive expert analysis, which the university has supposedly dismissed.

NTEU NSW division secretary Vince Caughley said: “In pushing ahead with their disastrous change plans, UTS management once again underestimated the serious and damaging impacts their choices have on staff and the community.”

“SafeWork NSW’s intervention is a rare and damning rebuke that underlines just how reckless these cuts have been,” he said.

NTEU UTS branch president Dr Sarah Attfield added that the decision from NSW “is incredibly welcomed by union members and the many staff who have been under immense stress at UTS”.

“At every turn so far, staff have been met with dismissal after dismissal from UTS management. I hope this decision makes it clear to management that staff have legitimate concerns, and they can’t just ram through changes that prioritise profit over people,” she said.

“It seems like management isn’t interested in the ideas of the staff who run this university, and that’s exactly why we will keep up the fight for our right to transparency, consultation, and safe workplaces.”

NTEU national president Dr Alison Barnes said the prohibition notice exposes a governance crisis that extends far beyond one university.

It is symptomatic, she argued, “of a system where vice-chancellors make damaging decisions without accountability to the communities they’re meant to serve”.

“What we’re seeing at UTS is being replicated across the country: university executives pursuing reckless job cuts that tear at the fabric of public universities, while dismissing the expertise and concerns of their own staff,” Barnes said.

“The fact that a workplace safety regulator had to step in to protect university workers speaks volumes about how disconnected university management has become. We need urgent governance reform to ensure vice-chancellors can’t continue making decisions that damage our universities without proper oversight and accountability.”

UTS’ spokesperson said that the university rejected NTEU’s contention “that we have not adequately conducted preliminary consultation on the need for the changes and the desired outcomes”.