The University of Western Australia has moved to remediate $6.6 million in inadvertent historical discrepancies identified in the payment of its 17 per cent superannuation entitlements to employees.
The payments cover the period from 1 July 2013 to the current date, to 5,500 former and 2,700 current employees.
The University aims to contact all affected employees to apologise and advise that it has commenced a program of back payments totaling $10.6 million, inclusive of $4 million in interest.
This follows a comprehensive and proactive review of superannuation entitlements by the University which identified shortfalls in the application of the 17 per cent superannuation contribution on some employee allowance and leave entitlements.
The University has reported the matter to the Office of Fair Work Ombudsman and is committed to an ongoing culture of compliance, continuous improvement, training, and ongoing review of its payroll processes and administration to ensure all University employees are receiving their correct entitlements and related payments.
As part of an ongoing Employee Entitlement Remediation Program throughout 2024, the University will also assess and remediate identified discrepancies in long service leave and casual payments.
UWA's Vice-Chancellor Professor Amit Chakma apologised to current and former affected employees, assuring them of prompt payment, including interest where applicable.
"I deeply regret this has occurred, and offer my apologies to those affected," Professor Chakma said. "It was due to differing interpretation of legislative changes and inconsistent understanding of Enterprise Agreement obligations.
"I assure you that discrepancies were unintentional and the University has acted in accordance with what was understood to be our obligations.
"We are committed to prompt remediation to ensure all employees have been fairly paid their full entitlements.
"Our program of review will continue throughout 2024 to assess and remediate any discrepancies in long service leave and casual payments.
"We will ensure our processes and practices are changed to prevent such matters from reoccurring in the future."
Former or current employees can find further information: uwa.edu.au/employee-remediation
