Casual staff at Curtin University are being paid per assignment marked instead of per hour, according to the National Tertiary Education Union [NTEU], which is calling on Curtin to rectify what it calls "wage theft".
According to a dispute letter seen by the ABC, casual staff in the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry are being paid a "piece rate" to mark assessments, which amounts to one hour per semester per student, regardless of the number of assessments required to be marked or the time taken to do so.
Jack* has worked at Curtin as a casual lecturer for several years, and says he's paid for only about half of the time he spends marking students' work.
"I get an hour per student per semester, and it's just not enough," he said.
"I'm really committed to my students and I think feedback is really critical for them … I hate having to tell them 'I'm not being paid for this' when they're seeking more help.
"[But] I constantly feel I'm being exploited because of my enthusiasm."
Disillusioned, burnt-out staff
Jack estimates he is thousands of dollars out of pocket every year as a result of not being paid for the hours he works, and says he is on the brink of quitting academia.
"I'm so burnt out that if something doesn't change in the next year or so I don't think I can keep doing it," he said.
"I've devoted my entire adult life to this [but] I'm in my early to mid-thirties now and I need to start thinking of accumulating some savings."
In a statement, a Curtin spokeswoman confirmed the dispute notification had been received and said it would be "handled in accordance with Curtin's Enterprise Agreement".
The spokeswoman said the university had already begun a review of payments to casual staff and was "aware of issues within the higher education sector".
Allegations of wage theft have emerged at universities across Australia in the past two years and in June this year the Fair Work Ombudsman announced the university sector would be one of its key compliance priorities following "regular self-reports from universities of significant underpayments, including to casual workers".
"We are concerned about the allegations of long-running underpayments in many universities, with our current investigations finding trends of poor governance and management oversight, and a lack of centralised human resources functions and investment in payroll and time-recording systems," ombudsman Sandra Parker said in June.
"We expect to be taking high-level enforcement action against a number of universities this year, and urge all to prioritise their compliance."
The NTEU says paying casuals a piece rate has resulted in "systematic wage theft on a significant scale" and wants Curtin to backpay all affected staff.
'Casuals should not be invisible'
NTEU WA Secretary Catherine Moore said staff were being "forced to choose between doing a good job and getting the work done in the time allowed".
"The unwritten rule seems to be that if they can't do it in the 'allocated time' they won't get a contract next semester," she said.
"There are few things more stressful than knowing you could lose your job if you speak up about not being paid for the hours you've worked.
"Our staff have been choosing to do their very best for students and paying a high price in terms of their own health and wellbeing."
She said the NTEU had yet to work out the scale of the issue, which was complicated by the fact that universities were not required to report how many casuals they employed.
Dr Moore said underpayment was a problem across all universities.
"Around half of all teaching is performed by casual academics," she said.
"Casuals should not be invisible."
*Jack is not his real name. He does not wish to be identified.
