Australian trade union the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has accused the state of Victoria’s Deakin University of paying casual academics per student assignment marked, rather than an hourly rate, in a formal dispute notice lodged with the institution, reports The Guardian. In the dispute notice seen by the Guardian Australia, the NTEU alleges Deakin University is directing some casual staff to claim a pre-determined sum for marking, based on a per course or per assignment basis. The union argues that the university’s standardised guidelines underestimate the time it takes to properly mark assignments and do not reflect reasonable expectations. At a March staff briefing, employees were told the university had found “absolutely no evidence of systematic underpayment” during an audit of its payroll system that began in 2020. But NTEU’s Victorian division assistant secretary, Sarah Roberts alleged that an investigation by the union found piece rates may have been paid as far back as 2018 and the total value of lost wages was unclear.

Casual staff make up 31% of the university teaching workforces, according to federal government statistics. The union’s dispute notice urges Deakin University to cease paying a piece rate for casual marking, back pay affected staff and revise its marking guidelines. A spokesperson for Deakin University said it was committed to ensuring the application for the enterprise agreement was “true and correct across our organisation.”