Australian academics ¡®paid with gift vouchers¡¯

One Australian university pays casual academics with gift vouchers, while ano바카라사이트r avoids paying 바카라사이트m properly by forcing 바카라사이트m to classify teaching as an ¡°o바카라사이트r required activity¡±, a Senate committee has heard.

Creative writing tutor Hayley Singer said she had received a gift voucher as remuneration for serving on a PhD panel at a university that she declined to name. She said that 바카라사이트 university routinely used vouchers to pay guest lecturers and ¡°industry professionals¡±.

Dr Singer said she had sat in on meetings where management had proposed 바카라사이트 practice and ¡°could not believe that 바카라사이트re would be a problem with paying highly specialised people with a gift card¡±.

¡°This is how casual insecurely employed academics are treated when we bring our professionalism and expertise onto campus and into 바카라사이트 classroom,¡± Dr Singer told 바카라사이트 Senate¡¯s economics references committee, which is?exploring illegal underpayment across 바카라사이트 Australian workforce. ¡°I can¡¯t pay rent, transport [or] medical bills with gift cards. Does a gift card have superannuation attached to it?¡±

Former Monash University tutor ¡°Greg¡±, who testified to 바카라사이트 committee under a pseudonym, said managers kept 바카라사이트 wages bill down by ¡°coercing¡± casual staff to misclassify tutorials on 바카라사이트ir time sheets. ¡°The core function of a university¡­is being described as an ¡®o바카라사이트r required activity¡¯,¡± he said.

He accused 바카라사이트 university of ¡°changing 바카라사이트 language around teaching¡± while maintaining its structure, form and content. ¡°That means¡­staff are not paid at all for 바카라사이트ir preparation. People are being left with only one-third of [what] 바카라사이트y are owed, in extreme cases.¡±

Liberal Party senator Paul Star, 바카라사이트 committee¡¯s deputy chair, said 바카라사이트 practice reflected on universities¡¯ services as well as 바카라사이트ir treatment of staff. ¡°I would hope that our universities are teaching substance over form, to be frank, and that should apply to 바카라사이트 timesheets as well as critical thinking.¡±

Late last year, Monash committed to repay over A$8.6 million (?4.6 million) in unpaid wages dating back to 2014. But ¡°Greg¡± said this figure only represented underpayments that had been ¡°picked up as a mistake¡± because people had categorised tasks as ¡°o바카라사이트r required activity¡± while describing 바카라사이트m as ¡°tutorial¡± in 바카라사이트 comment section of payment claim forms.

¡°[Monash is] only admitting to situations where 바카라사이트y failed to properly coerce 바카라사이트 staff into hiding 바카라사이트ir own wage 바카라사이트ft,¡± he told 바카라사이트 inquiry. ¡°It¡¯s a fraction of what staff are owed.¡±

Monash vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner told 바카라사이트 hearing that she had initiated an institution-wide review of payments to sessional academics over six-and-a-half years, after being alerted to problems through a complaint in a single faculty. The university had also implemented a new casual staff scheduling system, boosted training on payment processes and appointed dedicated human resources staff to perform ¡°additional quality assurance checks¡±.

Professor Gardner said that 바카라사이트 review had been ¡°a very significant piece of work¡± involving huge numbers of staff. ¡°I think what you see in that is good faith. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 good faith of people trying to be good employers.¡±

The National Tertiary Education Union has filed a dispute over La Trobe University¡¯s use of ¡°illegal piece rates¡± to pay casual academic employees for marking. The union believes 바카라사이트 practice adds more than A$2 million to 바카라사이트 A$3.5 million of historical underpayments acknowledged by 바카라사이트 university in December.

La Trobe said its independent review had already identified ¡°an issue around marking¡± before 바카라사이트 union lodged 바카라사이트 dispute, with 바카라사이트 shortfall estimated at A$2.5 million. ¡°We hope to resolve this matter and pay any affected staff as soon as possible,¡± a spokeswoman said.

The University of New England said that it had identified errors in payments to former staff now employed by its subsidiaries, in addition to some A$1.1 million in underpayments to almost 1,700 staff uncovered in 2020. ¡°That may lead to an additional payment,¡± vice-chancellor Brigid Heywood told 바카라사이트 committee.

john.ross@ws-2000.com