Griffith University has pledged to repay more than $8.34 million to over 5,400 current and former staff following widespread underpayments dating back to 2015. The Queensland-based institution has entered into an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after it self-reported the breaches in 2022.
The underpaid staff, spread across all six Griffith campuses—including its virtual campus—included academic, fitness, support and proctor personnel employed on full-time, part-time, and casual contracts. The affected employees worked across faculties in Arts, Education and Law, Business, Health, and Sciences.
Fair Work’s investigation found that Griffith failed to pay correct rates for a wide range of work, including tutorials, subject coordination, PhD qualifications, and fitness employee entitlements like split shift and meal allowances. Pay progression errors and failures to meet minimum daily engagement requirements also contributed to the underpayments.
Individual underpayments ranged from less than $1 to over $92,400. The $8.34 million total includes more than $5.95 million in unpaid wages, over $1.55 million in interest, and about $830,000 in superannuation and associated interest. So far, Griffith has remediated $5.83 million (excluding superannuation and interest) to 5,226 workers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the breaches were caused by systemic issues, including poor training, flawed payroll systems, a lack of automation, and inadequate review processes.
“Griffith University deserves credit for acknowledging its breaches and committing significant time and resources to full remediation and future compliance,” Booth said.
“But this matter is a clear warning about the serious, long-running consequences of failing to maintain robust checks and balances in payroll systems.”
As part of the enforceable undertaking, Griffith must pay a $175,000 contrition payment to the not-for-profit Cleaning Accountability Framework, which advocates for fair work conditions for cleaners. The university is also required to:
• Upgrade its payroll and record-keeping systems;
• Conduct two independent audits of employee entitlements;
• Provide Fair Work compliance training to relevant staff;
• Establish a formal consultation body with staff and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU);
• Maintain a mechanism for employees to report payment issues; and
• Embed compliance monitoring into its governing council’s remit.
“Improving universities’ workplace compliance is a priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman,” Booth added.
“We look forward to helping leadership teams across the sector take sustained, smart action to ensure full compliance with workplace laws.”
As per the Fair Work report, Griffith is now the seventh Australian university to enter such an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman, following La Trobe, Sydney, Melbourne, UTS, Newcastle, and Charles Sturt universities.
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