A leading New Zealand university was in breach of a regulatory order when it offered voluntary severance to staff in addition to those facing potential redundancy, an employment court has ruled.

Auckland University of Technology (AUT), which announced its biggest ever job-cutting exercise last year, was found to be in breach of a compliance order it had been given by the independent Employment Relations Authority.

It has been ordered to restart its redundancy process, which threatens the position of 170 members of its roughly 2,200 permanent staff, and to pay a fine of NZ$3,000 (£1,560), due to the union that brought the case.

AUT had been in a dispute with New Zealand’s Tertiary Education Union (TEU) over the proper process for cutting staff numbers, as laid out in the collective agreement between the two parties.

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The union argued that as part of the agreement, “surplus staff” who could potentially lose their jobs should have been identified by the positions they held rather than individually.

This was backed by the order given by the employment body. In response, the university cancelled the letters of termination that it had sent around to staff facing being laid off in early December.

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However, in a second round of correspondence that went out later that month, the university also sent letters to staff who held “equivalent positions” to those who were identified as surplus. This set of staff were then given the option of voluntary severance.

What AUT did, the court said, was “outside the scope” of due process. “The university has, effectively, carried on the path it set for itself in about September without modifying its behaviour…The order did not refer to equivalent position holders being invited to seek voluntary severance nor does the collective agreement,” Judge Kerry Smith ruled.

TEU organiser Jill Jones said the judgment spelled a “significant victory” for union members. “It sends a very clear message that there are consequences for not abiding by the terms of a collective agreement,” she said.

AUT’s redundancy process is part of a wider restructuring process that seeks to save NZ$21 million in response to falling enrolments, including a drop in international recruitment in the wake of Covid-related border closures.

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A university spokeswoman said AUT was “seeking to resolve these matters to provide everyone with clarity”.

“Our collective agreement includes requirements additional to those of legislation, and the court judgment has clarified that, enabling us to determine the way forward. We hope to engage constructively with the TEU to effect the changes we need,” the institution said.

AUT’s redundancy plan is the most significant in New Zealand academia since 2020, when 243 employees accepted redundancy as part of the University of Auckland’s “voluntary leaving scheme”.

tiya.alexander@timeshighereducation.com