University of Wollongong staff are calling for the university to institute paid sick leave for casual staff who contract COVID, have to isolate or care for someone who is isolating.
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The call comes as students return to campus ahead of the start of face to face teaching for semester 1, 2022.
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The University has published a Covid Safe Campus Plan which requires staff to not attend campus if they have COVID-19 symptoms, however Dr Jonny Mackay, casual and fixed term representative at the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) UOW branch, said the lack of leave for casual staff created an incentive to not get tested.
"As the past three years have taught us, if you put people in a position where they have to trade off between their health and their financial capabilities, they'll often go for the latter," Dr Mackay said.
University management and staff have been engaged in discussions around leave entitlements for casual staff, however negotiations have broken down, with the university suggesting that as casual staff receive a higher rate of pay, this covers their leave entitlements.
Union branch president, Professor Fiona Probyn-Rapsey said that casuals already worked well beyond their allocated hours, so the additional loading was not adequate.
"The hourly rate is like a magic pudding. All these tasks are shoved into it."
Dr Andrew Whelan, vice-president academic at the NTEU UOW branch, said that when the consultation process was conducted many casual staff were unsure of their employment for 2022 and were then unable to provide feedback.
"Most casual workers are on fixed term contracts, they have to put food on the table. If they miss work, they don't get paid and many are on a six month contract. So it's poor epidemiology, poor public health. The university should know better," Dr Whelan said.
A University of Wollongong spokesperson said the return to campus plan was the result of wide ranging consultation with academic experts, unions, students and all employees, including casuals.
"As part of this process, UOW undertook an all-staff survey (inclusive of casuals) on its COVID Safe Campus Plan. Staff feedback was invited and has been incorporated into the plan and/or addressed in FAQs accessible to all staff. All staff were also invited to briefing on the plan from their leadership teams," the spokesperson said.
Casual staff members are able to access workers compensation payment for the period of time they were unable to work.
Staff members said they welcomed the return to campus, but questioned the reliance on casual staff to teach the majority of classes.
"The model of the casualisation of teaching in the tertiary education sector in Australia is known to be kind of broken and dysfunctional," Dr Whelan said. "It's a strange business model, which doesn't work and what we're now doing is reverting to that at speed, as if we've learned nothing at all out of the pandemic."
The UOW spokesperson said that casual staffing was required to respond to changes in student demand.
"In the rapidly changing environment in which they operate, all universities, including the University of Wollongong, must use a variety of employment arrangements to meet the emerging needs of its students, research commitments and administration," the spokesperson said.
"The University acknowledges that employees' work lives have been impacted by COVID-19 and has been working cooperatively with staff to mitigate that impact.
"The University appreciates and values all its staff and their contribution to student education and research and looks forward to a safe return to campus for both staff and students."
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