Dept. of Justice Court Services IRC update

Dept. of Justice Court Services IRC update – December 2016 (PDF version)

Following the PSA Justice Departmental Committee meeting on 17 November, Delegates from Court Services raised serious concerns over the lack of proper consultation with the current restructure.

In response to this, the PSA has sought the assistance of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC). Your union has now made submissions to the Commission that the Department was in breach of Clause 65.1 Crown Employees (Public Service Conditions of Employment) Award 2009, in that it has failed to consult in respect of the restructure of non-executive roles across Court Services (incorporating Courts and the Office of the Sheriff).

The PSA highlighted the following:

1. Issues around the department’s proposed timetable for implementation including the rapid pace of the recruitment of Grade 11/12’s before consultation has taken place. Notably that applications had closed by Friday 25 November 2016 and that interviews were already envisaged to commence by Monday 28 November 2016.
2. The approval of the Change Management Plan (CMP) by the Secretary of Justice prior to consultation with the PSA commencing.
3. The doubtful utility of the proposed Reference Group to review feedback, given that the CMP is already well advanced before consulting, however that the PSA and our members were available and willing to consult.
4. Although the CMP indicated the Department proposed ‘engagement with the PSA through Joint Consultative Committee [‘JCC’] meetings’, this was not taking place in light of the cancellation of the past two JCC meetings for Court Services (August and November 2016 including the unilateral cancellation of the 18 November JCC due to a ‘training day’ for Executives). Additionally, the saga around the cancellation of recent Sheriff’s JCC meetings (dates that are set by the department) due to subsequent management leave arrangements and the department’s inflexibility around providing an alternate Chairperson for the Sheriff’s meetings.
5. The lack of rationale in the CMP for multiple aspects including the inexplicable regrading of various roles and the quarantining of other roles from the ‘spill and fill’ recruitment process.

In response, the following directions have been made by the IRC:

The parties are directed to urgently schedule extraordinary JCC meetings for Court Services and the Office of the Sheriff.

An urgent extraordinary JCC meetings will now be held and the PSA has proposed the following dates below and is waiting for the department’s response.

• December: 1^st, 6^th (9am-1pm; 3pm onward), 8^th and 9^th.

The IRC directed the matter should be urgently relisted once the extraordinary JCC meeting has taken place.

The PSA is in receipt of written feedback to date from affected members. If there are further concerns in relation to the restructure, could members please urgently forward those to PSA Industrial Officer, Dean Allen at by 12pm on Friday 2 December 2016.