Uncertainty around Genius “failure to pay” allegations persists after UWU notification

Allegations made by the United Workers Union (UWU) in a 28 May letter to Genius Education management regarding superannuation and wage payment discrepancies continue to garner significant attention across the broader early childhood education and care (ECEC) community.

 

The matter, first raised publicly by the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) on 5 June 2024, relates to communications received by the UWU from Genius employees (who are also members of the union), outlining that in some instances their pay had been issued up to five days late, and that superannuation contributions had not been received. 

 

Both the Children’s Services Award 2010 and Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 have very specific requirements when it comes to wage and superannuation payment timeframes, which the UWU letter noted as having been contravened, in turn triggering the action by the Union and the allegations thereafter. 

 

Since the matter became public, current and former Genius employees have taken to social media to share their experiences on the matter and express their concerns surrounding the situation going forward.

 

Genius comments to SMH signal ownership of issue, apology extended by leadership

 

In response to a request for comment relating to the late payments article from the SMH a Genius spokesperson acknowledged that there had been delays in wage payments in the last six weeks.

 

“These have been brought up to date, or are in the process of being brought up to date,” the spokesperson said, “We have communicated to all staff who have experienced delays.”

 

With respect to the issues raised in relation to superannuation payments across the Genius network, The Sector understands that a broader exercise, conducted by external accountants, to review balances is ongoing.

 

“We fully appreciate how difficult the last several months must have been for the impacted team members across our Group,” Darren Misquitta, Genius Founder and CEO said. 

 

“There is no excuse for this. As an organisation, we can and must do better.” 

 

“In light of that I extend a heartfelt apology to all affected team members and would invite anybody who has outstanding issues or concerns to contact our team immediately.”

 

Steps taken to safeguard future employees as UWU meeting awaits

 

As part of its ongoing commitment to safeguard future operations Genius acknowledged to the SMH that actions had been taken in regards the appointment of a new payroll partner. 

 

“To ensure this does not happen again, we have engaged a new third party payroll processor to bring all payments up to date, and we are hiring additional administrative staff to help,” a spokesperson shared in the piece which has since been confirmed by The Sector.  

 

With the matter now in the public realm, focus will turn to the request for a meeting between Genius senior leadership and UWU representatives, included in the UWU letter, and any outcomes that emerge thereafter. 

 

Genius management have confirmed they welcome the opportunity to convene with the UWU to resolve any outstanding matters.