The PSA met with representatives from the Department of Education on Wednesday 27 October 2021 to commence consultation on its approach to re-open corporate offices. The Department has proposed a three-phase approach to facilitate the re-opening of corporate offices that is consistent with the NSW Re-opening Roadmap.

The PSA will ensure consultation occurs at a peak level and a workplace level to allow all members to get a say. If you have concerns you would like raised, contact your workplace delegate or PSA Organiser so that a videoconference meeting can be scheduled to discuss the collective concerns of members. This will help inform our further discussions.

Initially, attendance at the office is proposed to be on a voluntary basis for most staff, except where attendance is required to support business critical functions. This will be followed by a transition period, where fully vaccinated staff will be encouraged to return to office in some capacity for collaboration and for each team to have a presence in the office.

WHS risk assessment, re-opening dates and PSA support for flexible working arrangements

From 31 January 2022 onwards the plan calls for staff to commence working under a hybrid arrangement of work from both home and office, supported by the Flexible Working Arrangements for Corporate Employees policy. There have been issues with flexible working arrangements for many of our members since working from home commenced and we will continue to support members in accessing this entitlement and ensuring managers implement arrangements consistent with the policy.

Vaccination and health advice

The phased re-opening plan has been developed as a result of a risk assessment undertaken by the DoE’s Health and Safety Directorate. This assessment found that control measures such as PPE are insufficient in protecting staff within the workplace and that staff vaccination is an important mechanism to manage the risk of COVID-19 transmission and severity in the workplace and to enable the Department to meet its health and safety obligations.

The PSA strongly encourages members to talk to their GP about vaccination as soon as possible to ensure the safety of themselves, their families, their customers and the community at large.

Many PSA members are already required to be vaccinated as a condition of their employment and vaccinations for a range of different diseases are mandatory in various industries nationwide. We understand that this can be a confusing, difficult and concerning time for members and want to reassure you that we are ensuring genuine consultation on the implementation of mandatory vaccinations.

The PSA will be consulting with Department representatives on a range of issues that may arise such as processes for staff that are unable to access vaccination, processes and additional safety for staff with a medical contraindication, procedures for checking the vaccination status of staff as well as other matters of concern to our members.

Raising your concerns with the Department

The consultation period concludes on Monday 15 November 2021. It would be appreciated if you can provide your feedback to the PSA by Thursday 11 November 2021.

We ask members who have concerns and questions to forward them to us directly at .

The Department of Education has requested staff provide feedback on the plans to . We encourage members to do this as well as discuss concerns with their manager.

We will continue to keep members updated on the consultation process and you can also raise any concerns with your PSA delegate.

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