The following is a report back to members of the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meeting held on 16 May 2023.
Haymarket Service Centre incident
An update was provided as to the ongoing support being provided to staff at the centre through Benestar (EAP) which also includes tailored support to individuals.
There has also been additional staffing provided to the centre to support the team, allowing for additional breaks and absences as required. This will be ongoing for as long as it is needed.
It was clearly acknowledged though that this has had an impact across all of Service NSW and has led to an acceleration of a number of initiatives to address staff safety. Part of this is looking at initiatives such as personal duress devices and additional security. There are currently 20 sites which have been identified as being high-risk and security will be deployed to those sites along with roaming patrols.
In addition to this Service NSW will be rolling out a “zero tolerance” campaign through web, posters and videos at the centre and is in the process of reviewing what other additional supports can be implemented. If you have feedback you would like raised with the Department please contact your Organiser.
TikTok and Service NSW
Can your employer direct you to remove or not have certain apps like TikTok on your personal device? In short no, but the PSA is aware that staff can access certain Service NSW systems via their personal device. It is Service NSW policy that if you are to access any Service NSW system data by way of a personal device you cannot have TikTok on that device. The PSA will be discussing this further offline with your employer.
Leadership development – Emerge and Elevate
A report was provided to the JCC on the rollout of the leadership development programs – Emerge and Elevate. Staff interested in either progressing into a leadership role or developing their leadership skills are encouraged to engage with the appropriate program.
Attune pilot
A test pilot of the Attune software was trialed. This enables participating staff to make changes to their rosters, shifts, etc., without prior approval. Certain changes that are ‘favourable’ earn flex coin that can be spent on ‘less favourable’ changes. Throughout the trial between February to April, more than 4000 schedule adjustments were made.
Despite what seems to have been a fairly successful trial, at this time Service NSW does not see it can scale this across the whole of the organisation as it needs a fairly homogenous group to be successful. However, discussions will continue.
Designated HQ for Relief Pool Driver Testers
At a recent meeting PSA staff and delegates raised the matter of consultation around designated HQ for Relief Pool driver testers with management. The business advised that it had so far consulted with 17 out of 25 staff members and committed to consulting with the remainder. It said it received mixed feedback with some staff being happy where they are and others wanting to be headquartered closer to home.
The business is of the view that changes to the overseas licence policy coming into effect in July will also have a bearing on demand for driving tests and this will have to be factored into any decision around location of HQ.
PSA maintained that all Relief Pool Driver Testers should be consulted and the decision cannot be made solely on the basis of changes to the licence policy.
The business will come back to us with its position in writing. Ideally we would want to see that all of the Relief Pool staff are consulted and are accommodated individually.