NGV staff underpaid amid workplace culture concerns
The National Gallery of Victoria has been rocked by accusations of underpaying workers, amid a wider investigation into workplace culture at the popular Melbourne attraction.
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Staff at the National Gallery of Victoria have been short-changed in an underpayment blunder that has embarrassed the Andrews Government.
The worker rip-off has emerged as part of a wider probe sparked by concerns about workplace culture at the gallery including an “alarming” number of reports about stress and workplace pressure.
In recent weeks CFA chair and industrial arbitration expert Greg Smith has been brought in to hold “facilitated discussions’ with NGV staff.
The Herald Sun has been told a number of staff have made claims of bullying at the country’s most-visited gallery.
The underpaid staff were understood to be casuals doing short shifts of three hours.
While those staff must be paid for a minimum of three hours, some were rostered for less work and were not paid their full entitlements.
The NGV, which is led by director Tony Ellwood, has blamed a “new staff rostering system” for the error.
“From January to June 2019, a small number of staff were paid a figure that was less than three hours,” a spokeswoman said.
“The total amount across all relevant staff was approximately $2000.
“The NGV has since ensured these staff are rostered and paid for a minimum three hour shift and will be recompensed accordingly.”
Questions about why Mr Smith, who was a former commissioner at Fair Work over three decades, was brought in to facilitate discussions at the NGV were not directly answered by the gallery or Arts Minister Martin Foley.
The Herald Sun has been told that workplace concerns have been raised over a lengthy period, with some staff hitting out at a bullying culture.
A spokeswoman for the government said Mr Smith was operating as an independent consultant and that he had been used by other organisations to facilitate workplace discussions.
“This is a matter for the NGV,” a spokeswoman for the minister said.
There was an increase in casual and fixed-term employees at the NGV between 2017 and 2018, according to the gallery’s annual reports, and the vast majority of those staff are women.
It also relies on a huge number of volunteers.
In May last year, Premier Daniel Andrews promised tough new laws to crack down on deliberate wage theft and hit out at employers who do the wrong thing.
“Every worker has the right to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work — the simple fact is underpaying workers is theft and it’s time it’s treated like that in our laws,” he said.
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In August, the government began “a series of wage theft forums” in the marginal seat of Northcote to hear from victims of underpayment, which has been a huge issue in the hospitality sector.