SAS Staff LMBR update - Public Service Association

SAS Staff LMBR update

SAS Staff LMBR update – June 2017 (PDF version)

We advised in the last bulletin on 8 May 2017 that SAS Staff members would be updated about the last LMBR meeting we had with the Department, the outcomes of that meeting, and action planned by the PSA. To view the 8 May 2017 bulletin click HERE.

LMBR feedback received from members

Feedback from members on LMBR issues is vital to the PSA and is provided to the Department at regular meetings. The Department’s A/Executive Director LMBR, Director LMBR Support, Director LMBR Deployment and their staff attend the meeting.

In response to members’ workload problems in providing LMBR feedback, the PSA has made substantial changes to the LMBR feedback form, making it easier for members. Alternatively, members can send a short email about their LMBR issue to . This will assist PSA to complete the feedback form – inclusion of an incident number is required if applicable and assists in resolving issues. We will contact you for more information if required. Members can also provide minutes of Collegial SAMs meetings, which we will provide to the Department as feedback. The PSA also forwards the Department’s response to each member who provided feedback.

On 11 May the PSA emailed members a poster, LMBR Deployment and Beyond, for distribution and display in your workplace. To view the poster click HERE.

Feedback has increased dramatically to 51 responses from 12 May to 8 June. There has also been a substantial increase in the range of issues from LMBR training, workload and computer problems to ‘Go Live’ problems, EdConnect’s response times, and problems with specific Reports and EBS4 problems. The Department is listening to what we raise in meetings on behalf of members and slowly implementing enhancements. For example articles in SchoolBiz remind SAS Staff about overtime/time in lieu, additional specific training is provided by LMBR Support but organised by SRGs and Collegial SAM Networks, and by the end of 2017 a message on SAMs/SAOs computer screens will say when computers have timed out. We continue to pursue the many other issues raised by members.

The last LMBR meeting on 15 May 2017

A presentation on EdConnect (see below) though valuable, reduced the meeting time and many of our issues were not raised and held over to the next meeting.

Maria Claudia Romero, Executive Director, Shared Services (responsible for EdConnect) provided a presentation on EdConnect. She advised:

  1. Complaints about EdConnect to LMBR meetings must include incident numbers and enough detail for EdConnect to action the complaint. The LMBR Feedback form has a box to insert incident numbers and that should be completed.
  2. Invoices are to be emailed direct from vendors to Shared Service Centre. The Department has advised many large companies of this requirement and it is stated on every Purchase Order (PO) issued to vendors. However, where the invoice does not have a valid PO number, or the PO number is different to that on the invoice it will be referred back to the PO’s creator. The Department is reinforcing that to SAS Staff in a bulletin.
  3. In online enquiries, the DoE IT form is complex and requires an accurate description of the problem for DoE to assess and pursue. The PSA raised the online form has no option to categorise an enquiry/complaint from urgent to less urgent, and that the wait time for response or resolution is unreasonable. The DoE stated it is employing additional finance staff, for example when Group 5 Schools ‘go live’ they will have an additional 10 staff which they believe will be adequate based on current incident responses of 1.6 contacts day/school.
  4. The DoE responded to contacts made based on levels 1 to 3, for example, level 1 involves the EDConnect representative taking the call and resolving the issue, to level 3 with the incident being escalated to outside of Shared Services, such as Schools Finance.

LMBR issues

The issues we proposed to raise can be viewed by clicking HERE.

In relation to:

  1. LMBR Workload – The Department is informing principals again of the need to budget for additional staff to complete required tasks before LMBR training.
  2. Computer outage on 1 May – The computer system being down is not within the Department’s control but due to Telstra as internet provider.
  3. Invoices not received by schools – See EdConnect’s response above (refer point B).
  4. EdConnect’s service standards – See EdConnect’s response above (refer point C)

In relation to other LMBR issues:

  1. Training post-LMBR implementation – LMBR Support is delivering post ‘go live’ training however training is to be organised by SRGs and Collegial SAM Networks determining specific topics and venues. The PSA continues to advocate on the inadequacy of that arrangement.
  2. Other EBS4 problems – PSA has included in correspondence to the department.
  3. Introduction of Fiori with no consultation – The department advised 59 schools in the Port Jackson/Botany Bay District are trialling Fiori following a month long trial by seven pilot schools. It will be evaluated before being released to 229 and Groups 1, 3 and 4 Schools in Term 3. LMBR Support considered it was not a significant change to require consultation with the PSA. PSA reviewed screenshots of journal entries from Duet and Fiori and it appears Fiori is an easier data entry system.
  4. Department’s view on Third party software, such as Sentral. The DoE is providing an opportunity via an intranet link to ask questions regarding this matter. The facility is being trialled in 18 schools.

Next LMBR update

The next LMBR meeting is scheduled for 19 June and an update of that meeting will be sent to members.

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