The University of Queensland has signed an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after 16,382 staff were found to be underpaid.
The underpayments amounted to $11 million, including interest and superannuation, the FWO said in a statement.
It said 14 other universities had also entered into Enforceable Undertakings following “systemic issues” with payments.
Most recently in Queensland, CQUniversity rectified $1.3 million, including interest and superannuation, to more than 1000 underpaid employees.
In the statement the FWO said that UQ’s underpayments happened between 2017 and 2026.
The highest amount paid to an individual to remedy an underpayment was $41,643, with the average at $564.
“The total is made up of about $9.2 million in wages, about $427,000 in interest, $1.02 million in superannuation, and about $315,000 in interest on the superannuation,” the FWO said.
“Under the terms of the EU, the university will also pay a $175,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund.”
The underpayments related to incorrect payroll system configurations, clerical errors and oversights, and errors relating to minimum engagement periods.
There were also issues with casual pay codes, base rates for some casual employees, failure to identify relevant PhD qualifications, and not recording additional or overtime hours worked.
The FWO said UQ had already paid more than $9.6 million to 13,514 current and former employees to redress the issue.
“The affected employees included academic and professional staff working at the university’s St Lucia, Herston and Dutton Park campuses in Brisbane, and its Gatton campus,” the FWO statement said.
“Just over a quarter of affected employees came from the university’s Health, Medicine and Behavioural Science faculty.”
The university reported the underpayments after first advising FWO in October 2021 that it would be conducting an external review into wage compliance to ensure that it was applying its enterprise agreement correctly.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said this Enforceable Undertaking was the 15th signed with a university, continuing the FWO’s focus on addressing non-compliance in the sector.
“We acknowledge that the University of Queensland reported these underpayments to us and has been dedicated in taking action to rectify them and prevent future non-compliance impacting their staff,” Ms Booth said.
“Improving workplace compliance in the university sector has been an extended priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman, and we’ve made important progress nationally including through Enforceable Undertakings like this one.”
