Dec 372/97 S Print P0289

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION

Workplace Relations Act 1996

s.107 reference to a Full Bench

s.113 applications for variation

Federated Australian University Staff Association

(C No. 37277 of 1989)

UNIVERSITIES AND AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS ACADEMIC RESEARCH SALARIES (VICTORIA AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA) AWARD 1989

(ODN C No. 36840 of 1989)

[Print J0106 [U0011]]

Union of Australian College Academics

AUSTRALIAN POST COMPULSORY AND HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMIC SALARIES (CONSOLIDATED) AWARD 1989

(ODN C No. 00368 of 1987)

[Print H7350 [A0399]]

(C No. 31129 of 1990)

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES ACADEMIC AND RELATED STAFF

(SALARIES) AWARD 1987

(ODN C No. 02710 of 1986)

[Print G6954 [A0378]]

(C No. 31130 of 1990)

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ACADEMIC

(SALARIES) AWARD 1988

(ODN C No. 00363 of 1990)

(C No. 31131 of 1990)

Academic staff Educational services

JUSTICE MUNRO

DEPUTY PRESIDENT WATSON

COMMISSIONER FRAWLEY MELBOURNE, 18 APRIL 1997

Casual pay rate for academic staff - casual loading - work descriptors

DECISION

1. The Matters for Determination:

1. What categories of teaching work should have hourly rates specified?

2. Are descriptors required elaborating forms of work that fall within the hourly "teaching" rates set by the award, and forms of work that should be paid for separately? If so, are the descriptors proposed by the NTEU an appropriate basis from which to develop them?

3. (i) Should the casual rates for academic staff be determined by reference to points in the full-time salary structure?

4. Should the casual loading be 25% as proposed by the NTEU or remain at 20% as proposed by the AHEIA?

5. Should there be a minimum "call-out" payment? And if so, should it 3 hours minimum payment for each day worked, as proposed by the NTEU?

6. (i) Should the amount of "associated duties" expected for any payment for a lecture or tutorial (or, in the NTEU's submission, for undergraduate clinical nurse education or music accompanying) be restricted by the award at all?

7. Should duties not encompassed within an hourly payment for teaching duties be paid at Level A and a rate at Level B as proposed by the NTEU or at a rate of Level A only as proposed by the AHEIA?

8. Should the award provision, known as the 60% Rule, be deleted?

2. The Industrial Perspective in which the Issues are Raised:

· continuing appointment associated with "tenure" or "permanency" on a full-time or part-time "fractional" basis;

· fixed term contract, or contract appointment with a specified finishing date, on terms and conditions similar to those available to continuing staff for proportionate classification rates, sick leave, long service leave, holiday pay and maternity leave for the full-time or part-time hours worked; and

· "casual" or "sessional" appointments paid on an hourly basis and carrying no entitlement to paid sick leave, long service leave or annual leave.

· specialist or "guest" lecturers engaged from a class constituted of persons with a high degree of professional or other expertise and substantially employed outside academia;

· short term emergency and relief support (occasional casual staff); and

· academics employed to conduct a series of lectures, tutorials, demonstrations etc. over the course of a clear and identified period of time, usually one or two semesters, on a casual hourly paid basis rather than a fractional or part-time appointment for the expected period (sessional casual staff)10.

· payment for the work performed by casual academics is a quasi piecework system based on different rates for different work that may be performed by the same employee. The scheme of payment in the current awards originated from the 1980 Academic Salaries Tribunal determination of Ludeke J. That determination included the following exposition of its rationale:

   

Per hour

      (1) Marking requiring a significant exercise of academic judgment, usually as a supervising examiner

 

$12.12

      (2) Routine marking

 

$8.50

      (3) Simple marking such as multiple choice examinations

 

$7.71

· Employment of casual staff is carried out usually at head of department level or by course co-ordinators. The mode of recruitment is sub-optimal in relation to opportunities for job applications and merit selection. Casual employment assists budget flexibility. It relieves other staff of less attractive teaching tasks. There are strong incentives to employ casual staff because of a lower cost relative to other employees.

· A significant proportion of sessional casual staff and occasional casual staff are postgraduate students. The practice is driven by budgetary reasons but the employees are also often perceived to be the recipients of a benefit. The fact that a substantial share of the teaching is done by postgraduate students obscures the process which industrially exploits them. There is little or no monitoring of casual employment at either system or individual level. Consequently, employment data about casual employment is of a poor quality.

· Women academics are more likely to be employed on a casual basis than on any other basis. Women academics constitute a higher proportion of casual employment than they do of continuing or fixed term employment.

· No definitive indication of the average length of service of sessional casual staff is available. The evidence included individual instances of employment over many years. A significant proportion of casual academics bring substantial previous experience with their current employer, and corresponding skills and credentials to the work required of them.

· Casual academics generally do not carry out the full range of duties expected of ongoing and fixed term staff. In particular, research, faculty administration, and the government of institutions are within the duty range of ongoing staff and not expected of casuals.

· The current payment is organised around a set of assumptions and formulae about how much time is required to perform various functions. On the evidence, those assumptions and formulae underestimate significantly the amount of time worked in particular cases and therefore may not result in appropriate payment for some work regularly performed.

· Student examination and essay marking, subject coordination, and student consultation are areas in which the evidence points to a significant demand on sessional casuals for unpaid work in excess of the level assumed in the calculation of the rate.

· There is substantial evidence to support a conclusion that reasonable real preparation time required for many lectures is more than is allowed for by the current award standard rates. We accept that the amount of marking associated with a sessional lecture series will have increased proportionately to any increase in class sizes. Similarly, there is substantial evidence supportive of a conclusion that separate provision and payment for marking as a function separate from tutoring or lecturing would be more equitable than the existing system.

· There is of necessity an arbitrary element in the attribution to the lecture rate of payment for one hour of contact and two hours of associated work. No adequate foundation is established for declaring another arbitrary attribution of three hours of associated work to one hour of contact time. The awards currently prescribe lecturer rates by reference to one of three "contact hour" rates for an initial lecture; the rate is selected by the employer. Those rates were arrived at by a calculation providing for one hour of lecture delivery at a rate linked to the midpoint of the lecturer scale in force in 1980, and two hours of associated duties on the first level, and for three and four hours of associated duties at the next two levels12. Similar calculations underlay the tutor and demonstration rates built on a nexus with step 2 and step 5 of the then operative tutor pay scale.

· The differences between full-time and casual staff in relation to conditions and benefits were estimated by the NTEU to constitute a cost benefit to the employer of about 35.9%. Differential employer superannuation contributions accounted for about 9% of that total. The remainder of the estimate was derived from casual staff not having access to these benefits of a salary equivalent value:

      · Entitlements to annual leave and public holidays

      · Entitlements to annual leave loading

   

      · Entitlements to sick and bereavement leave (estimated at five days per 261 working days)

   

      · Entitlements to paid maternity, parental and other leave (estimated at two days per 261 working days)

   

      · Lack of opportunity to access study leave and time release for study (estimated to average six months every 10 years)

   

      · Lack of opportunity to access conference funding (estimated to average $300 per annum)

   

      · Lack of opportunity to access other university funds (research, etc) (estimated to average $150 per annum)

   

      · Lack of opportunity to benefit from incremental progression within classification rate

   

· The award provisions for casual rates are not predicated upon a recognition of there being casual Level A, or casual Level B academics. Rather, the casual hourly rates are framed to provide a rate of payment for particular functions: a lecture, a repeat lecture, a demonstration, a tutorial, or marking. Requirements to lecture or to tutor are evident at all levels of the current full-time academic classification structure. Work performed by sessional and other casuals on lecturing or graduate supervision functions is of a kind that is covered within the classification standard descriptions for Level A and Level B academics respectively. The most complex subject coordination, however, will not be carried out by Level A academics. The award provides that "full subject coordination", or work requiring a doctoral qualification by full-time staff be paid at a classification rate at or above point 6 of the Level A pay scale13.

· Casual academic pay rates received pay increases amounting to 14.7% between October 1989 and July 1991 based on the average adjustments to full-time academic pay scales over that period. However on a comparison of the real impact of the July 1991 award restructuring decision, casual rates benefited from a uniform 8.1% increase only. That level of increase is in contrast to increases of 18.6% and 25.3% for full-time tutors with one and four years' experience respectively, and 18.7% for a university lecturer with pre 1991 midpoint lecturer equivalent experience14.

· The estimated overall cost of actual pay increases for full-time academics associated with translation from the former structure to the current classification structure in 1991 was about 21%. In contrast, the total increase claimed by the NTEU for casuals for the standard lecture rate would be about 69% or an increase of about 47% above the current rate which includes the 14.7% adjustment for the 1989-1991 period. Adoption of the NTEU claim would distort the relativity between the academic 5 level structure and the Metal Industry professional engineering/scientist structure implicit in the 1991 Full Bench decision15. For properly set minimum rates to be established, the relevant rate should be matched on a proper work value comparison against rates in the full-time structure which were in turn benchmarked against the Metal Industry Award. After safety net adjustments, the current Level A rate is set marginally above Metal Industry Award C5 moving to a rate approaching C1A. The current academic Level B commences above Metal Industry Level C1B going in the last two salary points to 10% above Metal Industry Level C. Full subject coordination may be carried out at point 6 of Level A, currently $36,702 per annum or about $705.80 per week in contrast with Level C1(a) of $769 per week. Work required of tutors in demonstrating and similar work would be over rewarded if it were to be paid at that rate.

· The best fit of casual rates for particular functions normally performed within the full-time structure will take account of the minimum level within that structure at which the performance of that function may be required. However, we accept the NTEU's counter that it is proper to consider what is the minimum rate which should be prescribed for the work having regard to the skills and experience that the casual academic brings to the work.

· The AHEIA proposal for variation of the hourly rates for lecturer and tutor is based upon a single minimum hourly rate for lecturer of $79.30. That rate is the product of a formula deriving an hourly rate from step 2 academic Level B based on a 37 1/2 hour week loaded by 20% producing an initial rate for one hour's delivery and two hours associated duties. Apart from a repeat rate at two thirds of the initial rate, no provision would be made for alternative rates corresponding to the current specialised lecture rates. The use of step 2 Level B in that formula is arrived at by applying to the nexus salary points used by Ludeke J much the same translation process as was applied to full-time staff upon the coming into operation of the 5 level structure. That approach in effect would allow casual staff a benefit from work value changes to about the same degree as full-time academic staff. The AHEIA disputed that any evidential case had been made to establish that the jobs of casual academics had grown in work value relative to full-time academics. The AHEIA proposal for the lecturer rate is based on point 2 of academic Level B rather than the actual translation point 1 of Level A for the midpoint of the former lecturer scale. Similarly, the tutoring rate is based upon point 2 of Level A to avoid a reduction in existing rates.

· There are numerous instances of award loadings in excess of 20% for casuals. There is some basis for holding that it may reasonably be contended that the 20% loading does not compensate for the value of the differential conditions accorded to ongoing staff through award or over award entitlements. However it is doubtful that there is a standard casual loading. In the absence of test case ruling, there are strong grounds for not exceeding a 20% loading.

3. Determination:

3.1 Introductory observations:

3.2 Issue 1: Categories of work:

(i) lecturing;

(ii) tutoring;

(iii) music accompanist (requiring specialist educational function);

(iv) undergraduate clinical nurse education;

(v) marking;

(vi) other activities;

and be associated with descriptors designed to provide some demarcation of the work within those categories.

3.3 Issue 2: Content of descriptors:

(i) NTEU proposed clause 4.1:

(ii) Lecturing:

(iii) Tutoring:

(iv) Music accompanist:

(v) Undergraduate clinical nurse education:

(vi) Marking:

(vii) Subject co-ordination:

(viii) Other activities:

3.4 Issue 3: salary points:

3.5 Issue 4: Casual loading:

3.6 Issue 5: Minimum call out payment:

3.7 Issue 6: Prescription of limits to duties "associated" with lecturing and tutoring:

3.8 Issue 7: Rate of payment for non associated duty:

3.9 Issue 8: Deletion of the 60% Rule:

4. Further Proceedings and Date of Effect:

BY THE COMMISSION:

JUSTICE P.R. MUNRO

Wage rates - casual employment - classification - academic staff, educational services - applications to be determined by reference to 1989 National Wage Case principles - awards varied to prescribe more detailed itemisation of minimum rates for teaching and other activities - descriptors to be included in awards - decision outlines in detail the descriptors which will apply to lecturing, tutoring, music accompanist, undergraduate clinical nurse education, marking, subject co-ordination and other activities - casual hourly rates to be linked to full-time salary points - Commission not satisfied that existing casual loading should be revised - reservations regarding whether loading adequately adjusts for differences between the entitlements of casual employees and ongoing staff is a sufficient basis to set a new level of loading in the absence of a contemporary standard - inclusion of minimum call out payment rejected - link between rate for marking which requires exercise of significant academic judgment and second step of Level B - a review of the 60% rule and its retention in the award is justified - review is best associated with the still reserved Full Bench decision considering categories of employment in universities and colleges - parties directed to confer regarding orders - award to be varied with effect from first pay period commencing on or after 5 May 1997.

Appearances:

L. Gale with K. McAlpine for the National Tertiary Education Industry Union.

R. Blackford with D. Shelton and S. Long for the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association.

Hearing details:

1996.

Melbourne:

March 28;

October 3 and 4.

Printed by Authority by the Commonwealth Government Printer

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ATTACHMENT A

1. The NTEU proposed variation of the Australian Universities Academic and Related Staff (Salaries) Award 1987

A. That Clause 4. PART-TIME (NON FRACTIONAL) RATES and Clause 5. LIMITS ON THE USE OF PART-TIME (NON FRACTIONAL) RATES be deleted; and

B. That the following clauses be inserted:

Cl. 4. - Casual (hourly-paid) rates

4.1. The minimum salaries paid to academic staff employed on a casual basis shall be:

4.2. Academic staff employed on a casual basis shall be paid at the rates set out in 4.1 above, for all time worked, except that:

4.3. Minimum Call Out

Cl. 5. - Casual (hourly-paid) Descriptors

5.1. LECTURE

5.2. TUTORIAL

5.3. UNDERGRADUATE CLINICAL NURSE EDUCATION

5.4. MUSICAL ACCOMPANYING

5.5. OTHER DUTIES

5.6. SUBJECT COORDINATION

5.7. PREPARATION TIME

2. The AHEIA proposed variation of the Australian Universities Academic and Related Staff (Salaries) Award 1987

1. By deleting clause 4 "Part-time (Non-Fractional) Rates" and inserting a new clause 4 as follows:

4 - PART TIME (NON-FRACTIONAL) RATES

4.1 The minimum salaries to be paid to academic staff employed on a part-time basis other than as fractional employees shall be as follows:

 

ACTIVITY

 

HOURLY RATE

      4.1.1

Lecturing

 

$79.30

 

Hourly rate includes the provision of a formal lecture of one hour's duration and any associated non-contact duties such as preparation, marking, and student consultation

   
       
 

Repeat Lecturing

 

$52.87

 

Hourly rate includes provision for a repeat lecture in the same subject matter within a period of 7 days and any associated non-contact duties such as preparation, marking, and student consultation.

   
       

      4.1.2

Tutoring

 

$56.78

 

Hourly rate includes provision for a formal tutorial of one hour's duration and any associated non-contact duties such as preparation, marking, and student consultation.

   
       
 

Repeat tutorial

 

$37.85

 

Hourly rate includes provision for a repeat tutorial in the same subject matter within a period of 7 days and any associated non-contact duties such as preparation, marking and student consultation.

   
       

      4.1.3

Other Activities

 

$18.93

 

Hourly rate includes all other academic duties delivered on a part-time (non-fractional) basis and not associated with tutoring or lecturing in 4.1.1 and 4.1.2.

Such activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

· The conduct of practical classes, demonstrations, workshops, seminars, student field excursions;

· The conduct of clinical sessions including clinical nurse education;

· The conduct of performance and visual art studio sessions;

· Musical Accompanying, Coaching, Repetition;

· Development of teaching and subject materials such as the preparation of subject guides and reading lists and activities associated with subject co-ordination;

· Consultation with students;

· Marking and assessment;

· Supervision; and

· Attendance at departmental and or faculty meetings as required.

   

4.2 The above rates are derived from two base rates calculated using the following formula:

4.3 Where an activity payment for which is regulated by clause 4.1 is carried out for a period other than an exact number of hours, payment shall be made on a pro-rata basis.

2. By deleting Clause 7, "Limits on the use of Part-time (Non-Fractional) Rates" and re-numbering all clauses from Clause 8 onwards.

ATTACHMENT B

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION

Industrial Relations Act 1988

s.99 notification of industrial dispute

National Tertiary Education Industry Union

and

Australian Higher Education Industry Union

(C No 37277 of 1989

C No 31129, 31130, 31131 of 1990

C No 34925, 34932, 34933 of 1995)

COMMISSIONER FRAWLEY MELBOURNE, 27 SEPTEMBER 1996

REPORT TO FULL BENCH

Background

Frawley C was directed as follows:

Following written representations by the NTEU and the AHEIA those directions were subsequently varied by me on 18 June 1996 as follows:

As a consequence there were hearings in Melbourne and Sydney on a total of 15 days and 30 witnesses gave evidence. In addition 77 exhibits were tendered.

A list of the witnesses is attached to this report at Appendix A, and the exhibits are set out at Appendix B. The applications by the NTEU and by the AHEIA (respectively NTEU 27 and AHEIA 4) are not attached to this report but for all purposes form part of it.

The final submissions of the NTEU and the AHEIA in written form (Exhibits NTEU 44 and AHEIA 32 respectively) form part of this report although these Exhibits are not attached.

The Issues

The matters the subject of this report to the Full Bench may be summarised by reference to the applications of the parties:

(i) From the NTEU viewpoint

(ii) From the AHEIA viewpoint

Non-Continuing employment in Higher Education

During these proceedings there was some limited reference to the regulation of non-continuing employment which is a matter currently before another Full Bench of this Commission. For convenience the following is set out by way of clarification by the NTEU.

Submissions of the NTEU

Mr McCulloch's opening remarks for the NTEU are reported at pages 4 - 13 of the transcript. The main points of that submission are:

Regarding the AHEIA application, Mr McCulloch made these points:

Ms Gale's closing remarks for the NTEU are recorded at pages 826 - 830 and pages 836 - 855. Her submissions included the following:

The main points covered included the following in relation to the AHEIA written submissions (AHEIA 32) :

Ms Gale presented Exhibit NTEU 45 which documents in table form translation outcomes and in her submission is intended to support the Union view about appropriate reference points for fixing rates for casuals. (Mr Shelton reserved the AHEIA position and may wish to address the Full Bench on this subject).

Ms Gale's concluding remarks are reported at pages 871 - 874 of the transcript.

As noted earlier the NTEU provided a written submission (NTEU 44) on 10 September 1996 which develops in greater detail each of the arguments relied upon. There is a convenient summary of the contents of that document and I have not drawn out or highlighted particular aspects in this report.

Submissions of the AHEIA

Mr Shelton for the AHEIA covered these matters in his opening submission (transcript pages 543 - 546) :

Mr Shelton's final submissions are contained at pages 856 - 890. They compliment the final written submissions of the AHEIA (Exhibit AHEIA 32).

The following main points were covered:

The AHEIA final written submissions are marked Exhibit AHEIA 32.

Matters for Determination by the Full Bench

There are competing views on:

In addition the AHEIA contends that the opportunity should be given to industrial parties generally to be heard in any arbitration of the casual loading.

B. FRAWLEY

COMMISSIONER

Hearing Details:

1996.

Melbourne:

June 18 to 21;

August 14, 16;

September 10.

Sydney:

August 6 to 9, 12, 13;

September 2.

Appendix A

LIST OF WITNESSES

Union Witnesses

Tanya Castleman - Associate Professor of Sociology at Swinburne University of Technology

Belinda Probert - Professor and Head of Department of Social Science at RMIT

Dr Adrian Ryan - Secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union (NSW Division)

Jennifer Strauss - Associate Professor in the Department of English at Monash University

Pat Wright - Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Adelaide

Christopher Holley - Senior Industrial Officer for the NSW Division of the NTEU

Ted Murphy - Secretary of the NTEU (Victorian Division)

Danielle Brown - President of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations

Simon Vanderaa - Industrial Officer of the NTEU (Tasmanian Division)

Tim Anderson - Doctoral student

Jon Cockburn - Part-time (casual) Lecturer at School of Art History & Theory UNSW

Rachel Cooper - Casual Associate Lecturer in the School of Industrial Relations and

Marie-Louise Harvey - Casual Lecturer in Life Management Studies at University of Sydney

Bruce Lindsay - Education Officer, Swinburne Student Union, Mooroolbark campus

Peter O'Brien - Casual Academic in the School of Accounting at UTS

Kevin Power - President of the Accompanists' Guild and Music Teachers' Association of Qld.

Martin Rodger - Casual Academic in the School of Nursing at Edith Cowan University

Paul Ronfeldt - PhD Student in the Faculty of Economics at University of Sydney

David McDowell - Casual Teacher

AHEIA Witnesses

Ross Cornwell - Secretary, Institute of the Arts at Australian National University, Canberra

Denis Feeney - Director, Personnel Services of the University of Queensland

Geoffrey Gibbs - Director, WA School of Dramatic Arts

Lorraine Gray - Chair, Department of Clinical Nursing at Edith Cowan University

Don Napper - Professor of Physical Chemistry at University of Sydney

Claudio Pompili - Head of Department of Music at University of New England

Robert Robertson - Dean, Faculty of Business at University of Technology, Sydney

Dr John Roddick - Head, Faculty of Information Technology at University of South Australia

Jonathan Taylor - Dean of the School of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts

Bruce Wallace - Registrar of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music

Prof. Mairead Brown - Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Uni. of Tech. Syd.

Printed by Authority by the Commonwealth Government Printer

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** end of text **

1 Print H9100.

2 Print J8559, p. 2.

3 Print N7134.

4 Transcript, at pp. 893 and 895.

5 Print J8559.

6 Exhibit NTEU 46.

7 Clause 6 of the Colleges Award; Clause 7 of the Universities Award.

8 Exhibit NTEU 1, Tab 11.

9 See in this context "Limited Access" Exhibit NTEU 2 at pp. 36-37.

10 Exhibit NTEU 7.

11 Academic Salaries Tribunal: Part-time Academic Staff: June 1980 at pp.27-30, Ludeke J.

12 Ibid at p. 30.

13 Proviso to clause 3 of Universities Award.

14 Exhibit NTEU 45, Table 5.

15 Exhibit AHEIA 35.

16 See ERCoV Decision E96/0437, 31 December 1996: Re Minimum wages for casuals, juniors and piece rate categories of employees in various industries.

17 Re Rope, Cordage, Thread Etc. Industry Award 1996 Print N6698 at p.3.