Your local delegates and Industrial Officer met with the Department on 14 May for the fortnightly RJCC.

At the meeting the following matters were discussed:

1. COVID-19

The Department advised that a number of programs have been put in place to support staff, including a 30-day Wellness Challenge. They had expected to see an increase in workers’ comp claims as a result of long periods of working from home, which has not materialised.

The Department is setting up a project looking at fatigue issues pre- and post-COVID and starting to put together Return to Office plans. They expect increased flexibility and a greater ability to work remotely. Your union has taken note of that comment, particularly in relation to members in the CEI program who are considering a move to Service NSW.

The Department has also highlighted it is putting Perspex screens into public offices and limiting numbers in areas to work with the latest social isolation measures. There are no plans to increase the number of staff in offices at the moment and, although essential staff are continuing to come in, it’s expected that public service staff will be the last to return to predominately office based work.

2. RMP updates

Digital Middle Office All staff have been placed and external recruitment is underway.

Revenue Digital Approvals are pending for stage 2. Local delegate commented on how frustrated members are at the length of time this has taken.

3. BDM

Staff in Grade 11/12 roles are now at stage 3 in the process. The question of what happens with temporary employees whose contracts run out on 30 June was taken on notice and management will come back on this. We will advise members in the area when we have further information.

4. CEI

It was agreed to defer discussion of CEI as there is a meeting with senior management in relation to this on 15 May 2020. A stand-alone bulletin in relation to this RMP will follow.

However, the Department noted that Letters of Offer had gone out and as of 14 May 186 staff members had not decided what they wanted. As per your union’s request, a pack explaining the rostering arrangements for ServiceNSW had been sent out to staff. HR have said that individual enquiries are coming through and being attended to.

It was clarified that if staff are in a talent pool, taking a role in ServiceNSW will not remove them from the pool.

There are a number of staff wanting to move into Revenue roles. There are no roles available at the moment but once the dust settles on the RMP any left-over positions will be available by expression of interest to internal staff. Our advice to you if you have been offered a ServiceNSW role and want a Revenue one, is to wait until the last minute to accept the Service role, then make an EOI for a Revenue position.

It was confirmed that part-time staff in Revenue who have been offered increases to hours will have those increases honoured. We are still negotiating about ServiceNSW and this will be part of the separate meeting scheduled for 15 May.

In relation to Voluntary Redundancies, we raised member concerns about not being able to make an informed decision about whether to take a role or a VR without having an idea of what a VR amount would look like. The Department will help staff with estimates. They will prepare full VR estimates when it comes to a choice between VR or redeployment.

If you reject a job offer and choose a VR based on the estimate HR gives you and it is significantly different to the full one you get from GovConnect, the Department has committed to offering you a role, but it will be in ServiceNSW. For members who want to take up the offer of an estimate from HR right now, please contact the enquiry email address.

Exit dates will be negotiated with individuals. There is no expectation that people will leave before September unless they want to.

PSA members had raised issues with being offered roles in Debt Resolution (which may not have been their first choice) and not knowing what the role entails. Management have taken this question on notice and will come back to your union on this. We will advise members when we have further information.

The PSA raised the question of job swaps and it was agreed that this would be on a case by case basis.

The End Users Team in CTO was discussed. There will be a separate meeting for this matter. Your local delegates will attend.

We appreciate that this is a very stressful time for members, particularly those impacted by the Customer Engagement Integration. We are meeting regularly with the Department to progress this matter, particularly in relation to those members who have been offered a role in ServiceNSW and have concerns around flexible work patterns, lack of shift allowance, no availability of compressed hours and confusion around increases to part-time hours being offered and then retracted.

Concerns have been raised and addressed at three meetings now and a fourth is scheduled for 15 May. We are committed to negotiating with the Department on your behalf to improve individual outcomes. We will provide further information to members as it becomes available.