Your union was advised last week of a restructure taking place in Births, Deaths and Marriages without appropriate consultation as per legislation.
PSA advised the Department that we were in dispute with them in relation to this.
We have had 3 meetings with the Department including a further discussion at the Recurring Joint Consultative Committee (RJCC) meeting.
Despite assertions that this is a “sneak peek” of what the business will be putting out to consultation next year, PSA is firmly of the opinion that this is an attempted restructure by stealth.
The business could have managed this change by telling employees who participated in the discussions, “pizza lunches” and group information sessions that the information would be collated and put into a document for further discussion after staff return from leave in February 2024. Particularly as we note that any change is not proposed to take effect until later next year.
This would have allowed employees to go into the break and the subsequent school holiday season without having to unsee what they have seen in their “sneak preview” of a proposal that isn’t a proposal (despite having a proposed structure and operating model and despite requesting feedback) because we’re (allegedly) not at consultation yet.
PSA has placed the restructure on the agenda for ongoing discussion with the Department at the fortnightly RJCCs with the first one for next year occurring in mid-January 2024.
The Department has agreed that staff should not be providing feedback across the shutdown period. As such, PSA directs members to not provide feedback before 15 January 2024. We are not in consultation over a proposal that we have not seen. There is no such thing as providing feedback on a sneak preview of a proposal that’s not even a proposal.
BDM should put out their proposal for consultation in February 2024 and seek feedback at that point. Until then, this is merely an exercise in how not to provide a duty of care or concern for the mental health and wellbeing of staff.
PSA will provide further updates as we work through this process. In the meantime, if members have concerns or information to share please contact member support on 1800 772 679 or and quote reference number 214767.