Office of the Vice-Chancellor University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia Phone +61 2 6773 2004 vcadministration@une.edu.au www.une.edu.au VCD20/514 13 November 2020 Mr Mark
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Office of the Vice-Chancellor University of New England Armidale NSW 2351 Australia
Phone +61 2 6773 2004 vcadministration@une.edu.au www.une.edu.au
VCD20/514
13 November 2020
Mr Mark Fitt
Committee Secretary
Senate Economics References Committee
By email economics.sen@aph.gov.au
Dear Committee Secretary,
Senate Inquiry into the unlawful underpayment of employees’ remuneration
I refer to your letter of 28 October 2020 inviting the University of New England (University) to provide a written submission to the Senate Economics References Committee in relation to its inquiry into the unlawful underpayment of employees’ remuneration Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission to this Inquiry
The University is a member of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA) AHEIA has separately provided a submission to the Committee on behalf of its members, including the University
In this context the University provides the following brief submission
The University employees approximately 2,393 employees, the vast majority of whom are covered
by the UNE Professional Staff Enterprise Agreement 2019-2022 and UNE Academic and ELC
Teaching Staff Enterprise Agreement 2020-2022
The Enterprise Agreements cover academic staff, English language teaching staff and professional employees The University employs continuing, fixed-term and casual employees
In mid-2019 the University commenced a review of payments of professional casual staff after a payment irregularity was identified by the University In light of this review, the University self-disclosed the payment errors to the Fair Work Ombudsman and as a matter of priority, worked to identify affected employees and remediate the errors
In 2020 a further irregularity was identified regarding payroll payments and the University has self-disclosed these errors to the Fair Work Ombudsman and has worked to identify affected employees and remediate the errors
The University has provided back payments, with interest, to employees as a result of this review The University has advised its employees and taken steps to advise the relevant unions of the payment errors when identified and is keeping them informed of the progress of the remediation process The University is also taking proactive steps to address the causes for the errors so that
it can ensure that no further errors occur
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University of
New England
Unlawful underpayment of employees' remuneration
Submission 121
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In response to identifying this issue, the University has also commissioned an external body to conduct a payroll review of both enterprise agreements to confirm that University employees are receiving their correct entitlements
The University is committed to transparency and integrity in its payroll system and to ensuring that employees receive their entitlements and intends to continue to take pro-active measures in this regard
The University does not agree with the written submissions provided by the NTEU to the Committee that employees in public universities are subject to “large scale wage theft” and that the high rates of casualisation in tertiary education drive wage theft
Thank you again for this opportunity I also confirm that the University does not object to its submission being made public after Wednesday 18 November 2020 after both unions have been advised of the second irregularity identified earlier this year
Yours sincerely,
Professor Brigid Heywood
Vice-Chancellor & CEO
University of New England
Unlawful underpayment of employees' remuneration
Submission 121