Monash U has already announced it will pay staff wages owed because the university did not meet the terms of its own enterprise agreements and pointed to a new payroll system to keep all on-track, following a Federal Court judgement.
And now the Fair Work Ombudsman summarises what happened with a scathing brevity. There were underpayments in all faculties, over 11 years and 10,000 people are owed $20.7m including super and interest.
It sets a context for the Ombudsman issuing an “enforceable undertaking” which sets out in detail what Monash U must do to make good. It includes a sequence of steps to ensure people get the money they are owed, provide evidence that they have and sets out systems put in place, “to further improve wage and workplace relations compliance.”
It also requires the university council to be informed of what occurs, with a standing agenda item on progress. Plus, the Ombudsman will keep watch to see everything is as it should be, including by calling for council documents, “relating to the monitoring of Monash’s compliance with workplace laws.”
The University will also demonstrate its contrition by paying the Commonwealth’s consolidated revenue $350,000. Presumably to keep the matter fresh in the Monash U corporate mind, it must let the Ombudsman know within 14 days of paying up.
And to ensure nobody misunderstands what this is all about, the FWO ends its list of enforceable undertakings with; “Monash must not and must use its best endeavours to ensure that its officers, employees or agents, do not make any statements or otherwise imply, either orally or in writing, anything that is inconsistent with admissions or acknowledgements contained in this undertaking.”
As enforceable undertakings go, this is not the Ombudsman at its orneriest – perhaps that was enforced on Uni Melbourne last December. That one included a requirement for Melbourne to undertake “a leading role in helping drive sector wide changes by sharing learnings and seeking to discuss compliance issues in the Group of Eight universities forum.”
There is something for Monash U management to look forward to.