University of Wollongong to repay $6.6m to underpaid staff

The University of Wollongong has been ordered to pay $6.6 million to thousands of underpaid staff following an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

On Thursday (25 September), the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) ordered the University of Wollongong (UOW) to repay $6.6 million to 5,340 underpaid staff, as well as a ‘contrition payment’ of $130,000, as part of an enforceable undertaking.

FWO Anna Booth said that the case underscored the importance of having proper compliance systems in place.

“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,” she said.

“We expect universities to meet their legal obligations under their own enterprise agreements and underlying awards.”

The widespread underpayments largely stemmed from poor governance processes, as well as fundamental payroll systems errors, the FWO found.

Most of the underpayments were the result of UOW failing to pay casual professional staff for a minimum engagement period of at least three hours per shift and underpaying the penalty rates they were entitled to for shift work.

UOW also underpaid employees’ weekend penalty rates, public holiday pay, overtime rates, various leave entitlements, as well as redundancy, severance, and retirement-related entitlements.

In total, the university underpaid wages and entitlements exceeding $4.9 million between 2014 and 2024. It was also ordered to pay staff interest of $1.1 million and superannuation entitlements of more than $630,000.

Booth credited the university for its compliance with the investigation and a strong commitment to rectifying its non-compliance issues.

“The University of Wollongong 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,” she said.

Alongside the $6.6 million payment, the UOW has said it would implement measures to ensure future compliance. These included additional staff training regarding Fair Work obligations, audits to ensure it was meeting all employee entitlements, an employee payment complaint review mechanism, as well as better risk and compliance monitoring processes.

The FWO said that it would continue its focus on addressing ‘systemic noncompliance’ afflicting the university sector.

Since 2022, the regulator has entered into enforceable undertakings with La Trobe University, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, UTS, the University of Newcastle, Charles Sturt University, and Griffith University; secured court penalties against the University of Melbourne; and commenced ongoing legal action against the University of NSW.

“Improving universities’ workplace compliance is a priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman,” Booth said.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the leadership teams at universities nationally to assist them to do the sustained, smart work required to ensure their employees benefit from full compliance with workplace laws.”