What led to the minimum engagement period underpayments and what have you done to fix the problem going forwards?

The QA reviews have shown that our systems require further refinement to respond to the complexities of the relevant industrial instruments that regulate how we pay our staff, and also that further education for casual staff and supervisors and compliance controls were required.

The system could not accurately determine if the two-hour minimum engagement period was met across multiple activities in a day. Academic supervisors were unable to validate that the two-hour minimum had been met across activities that they may not have been a supervisor of. Adherence was largely reliant on the casual academic staff member knowing about the enterprise agreement requirements. Time entries did not identify whether the work was completed onsite or offsite.

For sessionals (excluding casual academic research assistants)

The University has made enhancements to the pay system that will now automatically pay a minimum two hour payment for all scheduled teaching activities, and unscheduled activities required to be conducted on campus. This time includes any associated working time as listed in the Sessional Activity Types and Payment Guide.

For casual academic research assistants

The University has made enhancements to the pay system that will now automatically pay a minimum two hour payment per engagement regardless of where the work is required to be completed.