University of Melbourne faces court for alleged fair work breaches

The university coerced and took action against two employees to stop them from claiming pay for work, Fair Work alleges.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has started action against the University of Melbourne for alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

The Fair Work Ombudsman has announced it has commenced action against the University of Melbourne alleging it coerced and took adverse action against two casual employees to stop them from claiming pay for work.

The action could see the University of Melbourne pay penalties up to $132,000 and compensation to the two academics.

The regulator alleges, in documents filed in the Federal Court on Thursday, that the university threatened two casual academics not to claim extra working hours, saying something to the effect of “if you claim outside your contracted hours, don’t expect work next year.”

It alleges the university carried through with the threat on one of the academics.

The pair told the FWO that they were required to work more hours than the “anticipated hours” on their contracts but were refused payment for them.

“We treat allegations of employers taking action to stop or prevent employees from claiming their lawful entitlements very seriously,” Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said. “Adverse action and coercion directly undermine workplace laws and the ability of employees to exercise their lawful rights.”

The action comes after the FWO announced in June this year the university sector would be a “strategic priority” for the year ahead after “regular self-reports” of underpayment in the industry.

“We are currently investigating a range of underpayment issues in the universities sector, including failures to pay casual academics for all hours worked,” Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said.

The FWO said it has a separate, ongoing investigation into the alleged underpayment of University of Melbourne casual academics.

A University of Melbourne spokeswoman said it was “committed to complying with all of its obligations to staff under the enterprise agreement.”

“The University highly values all its employees including casual staff members and the significant contribution they make.”

“The University is currently working to identify any practices that are inconsistent with our obligations, and doing everything we can to make full remediation and ensure we fully comply.”