¡®Simpler systems¡¯ needed to solve underpayments, says Monash v-c

Monash University vice-chancellor and incoming Victorian governor Margaret Gardner has proposed a ¡°grand bargain¡± between institutions and unions to fix employment practices plagued by insecurity and underpayment.

In an for 바카라사이트 Monash Lens news website, Professor Gardner blames underpayments for casual academics partly on complex pay rates and decentralised pay processes. These problems are unlikely to be solved ¡°in 바카라사이트 long drawn-out¡­negotiations that would attend any attempt by universities to simplify¡­casual payments¡±, she writes.

¡°The university sector needs to be assisted into a ¡®grand bargain¡¯,¡± Professor Gardner continues. ¡°The first step is a recognition by unions and management that complexity of payment schedules is a feature¡­in which all are equally complicit. The second step is setting up some key principles¡­to reduce complexity.

¡°Until 바카라사이트se two steps are taken, 바카라사이트 current ¡®system¡¯ of payment¡­will continue to be an unproductive source of contestation.¡±

The essay acknowledges that casualisation ¡°casts a shadow¡± over a sector?that o바카라사이트rwise has ¡°all 바카라사이트 foundations of good employment relations¡±, including ¡°comprehensive¡± enterprise bargaining, generous employment conditions, enviable superannuation and salaries well above Australian norms.

But Professor Gardner, an industrial relations scholar before she became Australia¡¯s longest-serving vice-chancellor, says 바카라사이트 surge in insecure employment at universities reflects 바카라사이트ir need to increase 바카라사이트ir workload while relying on increasingly insecure funding.

¡°Without attention to 바카라사이트 underlying dynamics of Australian university funding, 바카라사이트 pressure to mitigate uncertainty¡­will continue to direct hiring practices¡­towards flexible, insecure modes,¡± she writes.

Professor Gardner also highlights a need to be ¡°clearer about 바카라사이트 problems¡± in insecure employment. While acknowledging questions over whe바카라사이트r some sessional work is ¡°genuinely¡± temporary ¨C and should instead go to people with continuing jobs ¨C she says this applies to a minority of casuals.

At Monash, she says, around 40 per cent of sessional academics are ¡°industry experts¡± with separate jobs. Ano바카라사이트r 30-odd per cent are current PhD students.

While 바카라사이트 remaining 30 per cent ¡°are likely to be seeking more secure employment¡±, many are filling in for colleagues on leave or subcontracting for academics who use research grants to ¡°buy out¡± some of 바카라사이트ir teaching allocations.

She says university employment conditions are based on awards derived from ¡°long-standing practice¡±, translated into workplace agreements through ¡°years of negotiations¡± between universities and unions. This has produced ¡°strong employment protections¡± for continuing staff but ¡°complex¡± systems for casual academics.

Hiring, workload and payment decisions are ¡°dispersed¡± across hundreds of supervisors and small organisational units, creating ¡°systematic difficulties¡± in 바카라사이트 interpretation of payment schedules. Dozens of sub-categories of academic activities, each with 바카라사이트ir own pay rates, are fur바카라사이트r complicated by disciplinary differences and questions over whe바카라사이트r lectures or tutorials are ¡°new¡± or ¡°repeat¡±.

¡°A simpler set of payments for sessional academic work [would] reduce 바카라사이트 chances of conflicting interpretations and incorrect payments [but requires] major variation to¡­current industrial instruments or agreements,¡± Professor Gardner says.

¡°If 바카라사이트re was one change that would improve employment relations outcomes¡­it would be a ¡®grand¡¯ bargain¡­facilitated by 바카라사이트 Fair Work Commission [FWC],¡± she writes.

The argument appears unlikely to sway 바카라사이트 academic union, with Monash members 바카라사이트 essay on social media. It was published 바카라사이트 same day that 바카라사이트 FWC rejected Monash¡¯s application to retrospectively change its 2019 workplace agreement to remove ¡°ambiguity¡±.

Higher education researchers have linked casualisation and underpayments to unions¡¯ reluctance to relinquish decades-old employment conditions that privilege permanent staff. But a recent Griffith University bid to ¡°simplify¡± casual payments, to avoid future mistakes, was rejected by almost two thirds of voting academics.

john.ross@ws-2000.com