Monash University agrees to back-pay thousands of staff in $10m wage theft case
A prestigious Melbourne university faces an eight-figure bill after losing a landmark wage theft case that could reshape how Australian universities pay their casual staff.
Monash University will fork out more than $10m to cover the underpayments of thousands of staff, after investigations into wage theft claims found the institution had failed to properly pay employees for almost a decade.
The university has agreed to back-pay all casual teaching staff following two days of mediation with the National Tertiary Education Union, which was pursuant to orders made by the Federal Court earlier this year.
In what the NTEU has described as a “landmark legal win”, thousands of current and former staff who were employed at the university over the past nine and a half years are expected to receive a share of what is anticipated to be an eight-figure remediation program.
Additionally, the university has also been ordered to pay the NTEU $450k in contrition “in lieu of further extensive litigation and any penalty hearing” in the Federal Court.
NTEU Victorian Secretary Sarah Roberts said the settlement vindicated the union’s long campaign against wage theft in universities.
“This victory belongs to every casual academic who has felt the devastating consequences of wage theft,” she said.
“Monash fought us every step of the way – even trying to retrospectively change its own enterprise agreement to avoid their obligations – but justice has prevailed.
“The scale of this landmark settlement reveals the truth about Australian universities: systemic wage theft underpins their business models. This stops now.”
The NTEU first filed proceedings against Monash University in the Federal Court in September 2022 on behalf of two casual teaching associates directed to deliver student consultations without separate payment.
The court found the leading Melbourne university – which is ranked 36th globally – breached both its 2014 and 2019 enterprise agreements and failed to maintain proper records.
The university also had to pay compensation to the two lead applicants – Dr James Kent and Michael Ciaravolo – totalling more than $49k plus interest and superannuation.
NTEU national president Dr Alison Barnes said “every dollar” of the contrition payment would go towards “stamping out the national disgrace of university wage theft”.
“This settlement proves what we’ve been saying all along – wage theft in universities is systematic, deliberate, and indefensible,” she said.
“The $450,000 contrition payment will strengthen our capacity to root out wage theft across the sector.
“Every dollar will go toward building union power and ensuring we stamp out the national disgrace of university wage theft.”
A Monash University spokesperson acknowledged the institution had reached an agreement with the NTEU, which provided “resolution to a Federal Court decision that clarified a longstanding ambiguity in our Enterprise Agreement as to what types of student consultation should be covered in the payment staff receive for ‘tutorial’ work”.
“The NTEU’s claim involved issues of interpretation as to what is covered by contemporaneous consultation under Schedule 3 of the Monash Enterprise Agreement (2014 and 2019),” they said.
“Following a private mediation, the parties reached a resolution on all outstanding matters including a remediation process that is fair, efficient, and consistent with the Court’s decision – and in the best interests of our affected staff.
“We thank the NTEU for its engagement in the mediation process.”
The spokesperson said the university would undertake a proactive remediation program to identify and compensate affected sessional staff.
“The parties are committed to moving forward constructively in implementing the agreed commitments,” they said.
“Monash is committed to paying our staff accurately, in line with our Enterprise Agreement and employment obligations.”
The university will implement a proactive remediation program, taking reasonable steps to identify and compensate impacted staff, and providing a mechanism for staff to submit claims for payments
It will also conduct a thorough review and assessment process to ensure such important and complex work is completed accurately.
Originally published as Monash University agrees to back-pay thousands of staff in $10m wage theft case
