Pay Equity case for SAS Staff – October 2017 (PDF version)
The PSA lodged an application to vary the Crown Employees (School Administrative and Support Staff) Award to include descriptors and a salary increase for all classifications of SAS Staff in March this year.
This is a major case which is being run under the Equal Remuneration and Other Conditions Principle.
The PSA is in the process of preparing statements from members who work in the classifications under the award. This evidence is due to be filed on 27 October 2017.
In these statements members describe what they do each day in their job and how their work has changed. For example, they discuss how the introduction of major reforms into schools has affected their workload. The PSA is also gathering evidence as to the origins of these classifications, and the history of their industrial regulation. More than 20 members are compiling this evidence across the classifications in the award.
The Department is to file and serve its lay evidence in reply on 15 December 2017 and the matter is next listed before the Commission on 21 December 2017.
WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK (WWCC)
The Department has brought forward its requirements for compliance with the statutory provisions for child-related employment clearance to November 2017. The statutory compliance date remains 31 March 2018
The PSA wrote to the Department raising member concerns arising out of the Children’s Guardian monitoring and auditing functions, which impact on the work required of school administrative staff. We required the Department acknowledge and resolve these concerns by:
- Assessing the workload impact of statutory compliance to date, and the need for the provision of additional resources
- Conducting a risk assessment of the changed work practices
- Consulting with the PSA on the implementation of the compliance requirements to be introduced from November 2017.
The Department has responded and considers the workload impact to be temporary and measures such as Probity Team Support and Training, the FAQs on WWCC, and enhancements to the ECPC data base will deal with any issues. The PSA disagrees these measures will manage the situation adequately.
The PSA has requested a meeting with the Department to address the inadequate response to these concerns.
PAY LEAVE SIMPLIFICATION FOR LONG-TERM TEMPORARY SAS STAFF
This matter has been ongoing. The Department proposed to simplify pay/leave entitlements to Long-Term Temporary (LTT) SAS Staff to provide for equal pays irrespective of being in term time or on student vacation. This will bring LTT pays in line with permanent SAS Staff.
This change would involve variations to the SAS Staff awards including the abolition of the stand-down provisions for LTT SAS Staff during student vacation periods.
The Department provided draft MOU and variation text which has been subject to scrutiny by the PSA’s lawyers, who recommended a number of wording changes which the Department has accepted. The Department has provided a final MOU and variation text. This has been signed off by the DoE and supplied to the PSA. This is currently with the General Secretary for formalisation.
At this stage, the Department has no firm date in mind for implementing pay/leave simplification. There is a tentative date of May 2018 for pay/leave simplification to be applied. However, pay/leave simplification will require the new HR/payroll system to be operational before it can be implemented in schools. Depending on the rollout of the new HR/payroll system will influence when pay/leave simplification can occur in schools.
This matter is ongoing.