Early Childhood Education and Care – Update on your issues - Public Service Association

Early Childhood Education and Care – Update on your issues

Early Childhood Education and Care – Update on your issues – October 2018 (PDF version)

On 4 October Delegates and PSA staff meet with senior officers from ECED and the Industrial Relations Unit to discuss a number of issues. Below is a report back to members on the issues raised.

ECED Field Staff – hours of work

The PSA expressed its concerns about the demands placed on members as a result of workload and the ability of members to be able to raise issues and concerns with the schedule and have visits changed or amended.

ECED advised the meeting that in September there were 56 requests for changes to officers’ schedules and they were all met. Apparently there were only half the requests to amend the scheduled visits in October, and these too have all been met.

The Department also assured us there is a clear process for members to raise issues around the inability to request a change of A&R visits. Both PSA staff and Delegates came away from the meeting with a clear understanding of the process, only to find out later that due to miscommunication that it was not clear at all.

We are now pleased to report that there is a clear process and this was communicated to staff by the ECED on 11 October.

To ensure members have adequate time to raise any issues or concerns and have them dealt with appropriately the PSA recommends that you:

  • Raise any issues with your Hub Coordinator ASAP
  • If the matter remains unresolved then raise the issue with your state operations manager.

If your issue is still unresolved of course you can seek the assistance of your Delegates or the PSA directly.

ECED Field Staff – Home as headquarters/Working seven hours a day from home

While this matter was discussed there was no agreement reached to resolve this matter. The Department believes that staff working from home should work seven hours a day and flex time cannot be accrued without prior approval.

The PSA believes that because of the particular circumstances of field staff having their home as headquarters that they should be able to accrue flex time in the normal way.

This issue will be the subject of further discussion between the Department and PSA and members will be updated on the progress of this matter.

Expansion of services

While Delegates and the PSA welcome the expansion of services and the creation of additional positions no agreement was reached on the Department’s obligation to consult the PSA about this restructure. Again this will be the subject of further discussion between the Department and the PSA.

If members have any concerns or questions about the expansion of services do not hesitate to raise them with your Delegates or the PSA.

Performance and Development Plans – PDPs

PDPs work best when they are the result of collaboration and discussion between a member and their manager. They should be based on the capabilities required in the role, your existing capabilities, individual performance objectives that are linked to the corporate and directorate objectives and career goals. PDPs are not required to include things that are normal day to day management issues such as recreation leave balances.

It is also important to make sure that your plan includes training and development plans such as formal courses, mentoring, acting up opportunities and new work experiences.

A number of Factsheets have been developed by the PSA to assist members with PDPs and they can be accessed here and here.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your Elected Departmental Committee Delegates: Kim Allen or Ruth Disher or your PSA Senior Industrial Officer Greg Corrigan if you have any questions about the issues in this bulletin.

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