JCU: James Cook University reviewing past payment of casual employees

A leading Queensland university is reviewing its payroll systems due to concerns about the past payment of casual employees.

James Cook University vice chancellor Professor Simon Biggs. Picture: Brendan Radke

A leading Queensland university is reviewing its payroll systems due to concerns about the past payment of casual employees.

Townsville-based James Cook University said on Wednesday that it had identified evidence of historical compliance concerns “in relation to the payment of casual employee entitlements due to issues with its payroll systems and processes”.

It said it was undertaking the review to determine the full extent of the concerns.

“This detailed review follows an initial assessment of JCU’s payroll systems and processes in relation to casual employee entitlements to ensure our systems were compliant with entitlements set out in the University’s Enterprise Agreement,” it said.

“Initial results indicate potential non-compliance for minimum hours worked and other entitlements, meaning some employees may not have been paid correctly.”

JCU said it had self-reported the issues to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

A project team had started a comprehensive review of payroll records, it said.

Vice Chancellor Professor Simon Biggs said JCU was committed to addressing and resolving the issues.

“Our focus is firmly on ensuring our casual staff members are being paid correctly and the rectification of any past issues,” Professor Biggs said.

“As the review is in its initial stages, further details including the number of staff members affected are still to be determined.”

Prof Biggs said some historical issued had unfortunately been identified and “we deeply regret these”.

“I’d like to assure impacted staff that any required remediation is considered a matter of urgency by the university.”

He said the project team would conduct a thorough review of the payroll records.

“We have also informed the Fair Work Ombudsman of our decision to undertake a comprehensive review and will be in regular communication with them,” he said.

“We will also take this opportunity to review our processes and systems more broadly to ensure that they are more robust against such issues going forward.”

Originally published as JCU: James Cook University reviewing past payment of casual employees