An anonymous source (allegedly a Tharunka editor) has told Tharunka they’ve had to wait more than a month to get paid below the minimum wage after logging their invoice to Arc @ UNSW Ltd.
According to the source, they’ve spent more than 50 unpaid hours resending the same email to Arc to remind them that they still haven’t received their payment.
“I’ve tried rewording the email, you know, like making it cuter or more dramatic to try and get their attention,” said the source.
“Sometimes I use ‘heeeeeeeeeey’ instead of just ‘hi’… I’ve even tried using the Vice Chancellor’s name as the subject line just to get them to respond to me.”
The only way for a Tharunka editor to submit an invoice to Arc is via email, leaving room for many invoices to get lost or go completely unnoticed.
Tharunka editors get paid in 10 equal instalments per year, with the payment deadline 30 days following the submission of an invoice. This leaves plenty of time in between each payment to rethink life decisions, stress about rent and have wage theft flashbacks from previous hospitality jobs.
Another anonymous source (also an alleged Tharunka editor) told us that they find the current payment system ’fun’ and that they ’completely get’ Arc’s adamance in keeping the flimsy email system.
“I like the thrill. It keeps me on my toes”, source B said.
“My writing has improved immensely after composing so many emails. Student-relevant news? Who cares! I now have more than 500 email correspondences to put into my portfolio. My journalism career is set!”
More to come.