Medical retirement
Currently university management can medically retire someone who has an ongoing medical condition that maybe harmful to themselves or to others and/or is affecting their performance. Therefore, if a staff member is informed by HR that they are to be medically retired, then they only need to be given four weeks’ notice.
The CPSU NSW bargaining team has successfully negotiated to extend this notification period to six months in the new agreement. In addition, the new agreement will allow an affected staff member a support person, and the option to submit a medical report from their GP. It should lead to improved management of mental health training.
Medical retirement can also be triggered by management when a staff member takes 20 or more sick days over the year. However, the CPSU NSW made strong critical arguments in relation to recent local management processes involving Independent Medical Examinations (IME), which can be a precursor to medical retirement, leading to the university agreeing to the requirement that HR be involved in such processes. This should reduce the chances of staff being compelled to undergo IMEs and should prevent action being taken against staff unless they are genuinely unable to continue their roles at the university. The university will be required to inform any staff member that is subjected to medical retirement that they are entitled to have a support person throughout the process.
Should you be told that you are in danger of medical retirement, or approached regarding the need for an IME, please contact your delegate.
Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) negotiations will recommence in February.
On 1 November, the new arrangements commenced in relation to the 14 parking areas that have been set aside on campus for staff use only between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm Monday to Friday. Feedback from members indicated an immediate and significant improvement in available parking spots on campus; see this Yammer link . We are still in discussions with management regarding the university introducing a Pay As You Go (PAYG) parking system to replace the current annual permit system and the increased associated costs.
The CPSU NSW EBA team has aimed to significantly improve conditions for women at the University of Sydney. After some protracted negotiations, we have achieved some gains as follows:
Under the current EBA, the university allocates at least $2 million each year to fund programs and activities to assist Professional Staff to develop the skills and expertise required to achieve their ‘next step’ career development goals. This is called the Professional Staff Development Fund. The fund may be used for programs and activities such as courses of study, training programs, scholarships, conference attendance and external secondments and the associated costs of staff replacement. The fund is NOT designed for your manager to send you on a random course, it is entirely designed to allow you to identify and undergo training that you believe will assist the next steps in your career development. As such, it need not be tied to activities you undertake in your current role.
As the professional Staff Development Fund is centrally held, such training does not affect your local unit’s budget! Take up, particularly at HEO levels 1-5 is slow, so we encourage you to take advantage of the fund! For more information go to intranet.sydney.edu.au/careers-training/career-development/professional/programs.html.
Wishing you a safe and happy holiday, and all the best for the new year.
Ask them to join online HERE.
Want to network with other Professional Staff? You can do so in this private Facebook group.
Stand with us today!
Please contact one of our delegates if you have any questions
President Grant Wheeler
[email protected]
Vice President Ivan Coates
[email protected]
Secretary Patrick O’Mara
[email protected]
Assistant Secretary Ruth Livingstone
[email protected]
Women’s Officer Rachelle Down
[email protected]
Membership Registrar Holly Eades
[email protected]
Branch Delegates
Norton Roughley
[email protected]
Peter Adams
[email protected]
Virginia Hilyard
[email protected]
Lachlan Grant
[email protected]
Matthew Etherton
[email protected]
Al Yap
[email protected]
Activist Jean Arnot is immortalised at PSA House.
One of the PSA’s pioneers for pay equity, Jean Arnot, was honoured at the 2022 Women’s Conference.
The refurbished PSA/CPSU NSW Library was renamed the Jean Arnot Library at the conference, with speeches from State Library Delegates.
At the State Library Ms Arnot first saw how women in NSW were paid less than male colleagues, so began agitating in 1937 for equal pay for equal work.
Emily Harris is the youngest of three generations of Prison Officers working at the same time at Bathurst Gaol, employed alongside her mum, Stacey, and grandmother Maree.
“I look up to Nan and want to model the way she works,” said Emily. “She has a lot of respect from others; I want to mirror her career, and Mum’s too.”
“The training was intense but fantastic – it put me out of my comfort zone, I challenged myself and pushed through, and learned a lot of things I never thought I’d be able to do.”
She will be in good hands at work, as her mother prides herself as a mentor for women working in the prison.
“A big thing for me is helping younger, female staff who are coming through; to be a role model, or a mentor, is a special part of this job,” said Stacey. “It’s not a man’s world anymore.”
Stacey said her mother, Maree, “always worked in areas dominated by males”.
Maree said she enjoyed working with young offenders.
“One of the first things I did was camping with the Young Offenders Program – I was ankle deep in snow thinking, ‘what have I done?’,” she said. “Then their parents saw a change, they saw the light had come on, their kids now spoke to them, and they thanked me for guiding them … that was my lightbulb moment.”
Friday 25 November is International day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Your union has long been at the forefront of fighting for stronger support mechanisms for workers to escape volatile family and dangerous domestic situations.
The PSA and its sister federal union the Community and Public Sector Union (State Public Sector Federation Group) were the first union to secure, in a collective agreement, the right for paid Domestic Violence Leave at the University of NSW in 2011.
This entitlement has since been increased in several institutions and public sector agencies and was eventually implemented in the Crown Employees Conditions Award as five days Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) leave.
In 2018 the union made representations to the Government which had this extended to 10 days paid leave through the Premier’s Public Service Determination 2018-03 Support for Employees Experiencing FDV.
This year, Federal Parliament passed a bill that enshrined 10 days paid FDV Leave as a workplace right for every worker in Australia in the National Employment Standards. This would not have come about without the previous decade of campaigning by the union movement and activists.
Further advocacy from your union led to the announcement in September this year that the NSW Government has extended family and domestic violence leave provisions to 20 days paid leave per calendar year from 1 January 2023, including casual workers.
There is still much work to be done to make women safer from violence, and the union has made recommendations to the government for better support services, better funding for short-term accommodation and five days supporter leave for people supporting a family or friend through domestic and family violence. We also continue to advocate for better ways to support those accessing the leave such as protection of personal information and requirements to provide evidence.
If you or someone you know, you can access a wide range of information and links to services that can provide you support on the PSA website: Domestic Violence – Public Service Association.
The NSW Government announced changes to the parental leave provisions for Public Servants in the State Budget earlier this year. This followed the PSA, along with other public sector unions, advocating for improvements through the Women’s Economic Opportunities Review. The review develops the strategies and makes recommendations on the women’s economic participation aspects of the 2022-23 NSW Budget.
Our submission draws upon direct feedback and research of our female membership over several years including our 2020 survey and report ‘What Women Want’.
The changes are contained within special Determinations No 3 and No 4 of 2022.
You can read the determinations by clicking on the links below:
Changes to entitlements include:
The changes are available for children who were born to, or came into the care of, an employee from 1 October 2022.
We encourage members who need to access parental leave to familiarise themselves with the changes and be aware that parental leave conditions are now listed in both Clause 75 of the Crown Employees Award as well as Determinations No 3 and No 4 of 2022.
The PSA has commenced discussions with the government and the other unions to introduce a new model Parental Leave clause to public sector awards, which will consolidate all entitlements into one place – your Award.
While the PSA welcomes the changes to the Parental Leave entitlements, we will continue to advocate for a range of further improvements.
Paid Parental Leave should be extended to 26 weeks, as the current entitlement is still well behind the quantum recommended by the World Health Organisation in relation to supporting breastfeeding.
Requests related to Parental Leave refusals are far too often negated based on operational reasons and interpreted in quite narrow definitions. The PSA has recommended that refusal of the right to request part time work as well as requests regarding the pattern in which Parental Leave is taken be reviewed and arbitrated by an independent review process.
The PSA recommends the creation of additional leave entitlements for emergency/short term and respite carers of up to two weeks; leave per year to support those who are engaged in crucial caring roles that are yet to be made permanent out of home care arrangements.
If you have concerns regarding your parental leave entitlements, please contact the PSA by calling the Member Support Centre on 1800 772 679 or emailing [email protected].
The NSW Government announced changes to the parental leave provisions for Public Servants in the State Budget earlier this year. This followed the PSA, along with other public sector unions, advocating for improvements through the Women’s Economic Opportunities Review. The review develops the strategies and makes recommendations on the women’s economic participation aspects of the 2022-23 NSW Budget.
Our submission draws upon direct feedback and research of our female membership over several years including our 2020 survey and report ‘What Women Want’.
The changes are contained within special Determinations No 3 and No 4 of 2022.
You can read the determinations by clicking on the links below:
Changes to entitlements include:
The changes are available for children who were born to, or came into the care of, an employee from 1 October 2022.
We encourage members who need to access parental leave to familiarise themselves with the changes and be aware that parental leave conditions are now listed in both Clause 75 of the Crown Employees Award as well as Determinations No 3 and No 4 of 2022.
The PSA has commenced discussions with the government and the other unions to introduce a new model Parental Leave clause to public sector awards, which will consolidate all entitlements into one place – your Award.
While the PSA welcomes the changes to the Parental Leave entitlements, we will continue to advocate for a range of further improvements.
Paid Parental Leave should be extended to 26 weeks, as the current entitlement is still well behind the quantum recommended by the World Health Organisation in relation to supporting breastfeeding.
Requests related to Parental Leave refusals are far too often negated based on operational reasons and interpreted in quite narrow definitions. The PSA has recommended that refusal of the right to request part time work as well as requests regarding the pattern in which Parental Leave is taken be reviewed and arbitrated by an independent review process.
The PSA recommends the creation of additional leave entitlements for emergency/short term and respite carers of up to two weeks; leave per year to support those who are engaged in crucial caring roles that are yet to be made permanent out of home care arrangements.
If you have concerns regarding your parental leave entitlements, please contact the PSA by calling the Member Support Centre on 1800 772 679 or emailing [email protected].
The PSA has written to the Secretary of the Department of Education to demand action on the serious concerns of members.
We have raised these issues with the department, and the NSW Government, numerous times over the last few years with little to no action taken to rectify them. After the hard work of our members keeping schools running, we must take a stand.
The PSA was recently provided with the most current data on temporary engagements across SAS Staff classifications. The Department of Education’s own data shows that over 50 per cent of SAS Staff are currently in temporary work, with the percentage increasing to over 70% per cent for School Learning Support Officers.
It is an absolute disgrace that the Department of Education continue to rely on temporary employment to support the education of the state’s children and young people. Keeping so many SAS Staff in insecure work, in numerous cases for over 10 years, is unacceptable to the PSA.
The current staffing formula is woefully inadequate and has not been adjusted for over 20 years. Staffing in all schools, but particularly in Primary Schools, does not meet workload demands. Some Primary Schools now have well over 1500 students with no change to their formula staffing.
Despite assurances by the Department, detail on workforce planning to address this issue, and that of the drastically high levels of temporary SAS Staff, has not been forthcoming.
Covid-19 and the winter flu season have added pressure to a system that is already at breaking point. Over the last few years, the administrative burden placed on our membership has increased significantly and they are facing a workload crisis that needs to be addressed.
The union is aware that despite agreements not to roll out new programs during Term 1 and Term 4 of each school year, major changes are being planned over the next two school terms, such as the implementation of the School Administration and Management Marketplace which has the potential to dramatically impact the workload of members.
On top of this, there was no consultation on the School Administration and Management Marketplace prior to it being announced to staff. Since the PSA placed a ban on interacting with the roll out of the program, industrial staff and delegates have met once with relevant senior staff members from the department. So far there has not been sufficient information provided to resolve the issues raised by members, including –
Throughout Term 3, the Association has received increasing reports of violent students in schools. We raised this directly with senior Industrial Relations staff at the department on 19 September 2022 at the Schools Joint Consultative Committee. The Premier Dominic Perrottet has even announced a global recruitment search for a ‘chief behaviour adviser’.
It is often our members working one on one with students that deal with the most violent incidents and the PSA has members across NSW considering implementing actions under the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to cease unsafe work with violent students as a last resort to keep themselves from further harm.
The Department of Education is the only NSW Government Department that did not file an award on 1 July 2022. In all other departments, even if award negotiations were underway, the Department or agency filed an award on 1 July 2022, allowing the Commission to make this as the operative date for the pay increase.
Despite the union’s historic pay equity win in 2019, SAS Staff remain some of the lowest paid workers in the public sector. The gender demographic of the SASS workforce is over 95 per cent women, and you have been denied the full backdating of your pay increase for 2022.
The PSA has called on the department to:
The PSA is waiting on a response from the department and will report back to members on potential actions to progress these matters in the near future.
The union is considering all possible actions on these issues.
So save the date of 12 October 2022 in your diaries, and keep a lookout for further updates from the PSA in the near future.
We are aware some of our female members have experienced discrimination and been penalised for taking parental leave either through effective demotion or being overlooked for promotion opportunities. We want to find out how widespread this is within the NSW Public Service.
Please fill out the survey HERE.
This survey is detailed and takes between five and 10 minutes to complete. It is important to complete the survey once you begin because if you exit the survey before you complete, you won’t be able to restart it where you left off. We want to hear all your answers.
The survey is broken up into sections about you, your workplace, and what can be improved. Once we have heard back from our members, we will report back to you what you want our campaign goals and organising work to be.
Workplaces are grouped by Cluster. Given the frequency and speed at which Clusters are reorganised and units renamed, it is possible your current workplace is not specifically listed. If this is the case, then please add it to the ‘other’ box.
Your answers to this survey are confidential and no individual respondent will be identified.
On 9 August the National Parks Vocational Branch met to discuss a range of issues. Some of these issues included:
After significant and ongoing advocacy by the PSA some houses at Waste Point in KNP have been made available for tenancy by staff. This is a great win for PSA members and enables staff in need of accomodation to apply for occupancy of the houses available.
The PSA is also attempting to meet with managers in Royal National Park to resolve similar issues of availability of NPWS houses and flats for staff accomodation in the park
Amongst a plethora of surveys undertaken by DPE and NPWS recently NPWS did a survey of female employees to determine their career aspirations and future direction in the Service. There have been numerous complaints from members in respect of feedback from this and other surveys undertaken. A roaring silence continues to exist from Senior Managers in respect of feedback.
A vacancy existing on the Woman’s Council of the PSA has been filled by PSA NPWS delegate Naomi Goosen after endorsement by two female delegates of the NPVB.
A report on law enforcement in the NPWS has identified that no Executive Officer has responsibility for law enforcement in their Role Description. This report is yet to be made available to staff. The report also identified that law enforcement training should be provided for Area Managers and Team Leader Rangers.
The roll out of the new uniform issue has been delayed until October. Uniform already issued has been recalled. There may not be adequate supplies of uniform for distribution until later in the year.
A new working group has been established to assist with the upgrade and integration of the NPWS radio system (possibly into the GRN network). PSA NPWS delegate Danny Corcoran has nominated to be on the committee.
DPE has relinquished four floors of 4PSQ. Hence BCD; Science and NPWS are to be relocated to levels 13 and 14 of the building. Amongst other arrangements this will require the sharing of lockers. Only staff working a 5 day week in the office will be entitled to have their own locker. Others will have to share a locker. Further to this moves are apparently afoot to relocate 300 staff back into an office in the CBD.
The 2022 Women’s Conference is being held on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 September at PSA House in Sydney.
Conference will connect women members from across the state and from all employers.
This year’s theme is “Winning Together – Safe, Respected, Equal”.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get new and experienced Delegates together to build fairer workplaces.
Women’s Conference will give you the tools and the confidence to speak up, speak out and to help you become more active within your own workplace.
The Conference is popular, so spaces are limited, and the PSA CPSU NSW may need to be selective on who attends. Preference will be given to workplace Delegates. Expressions of Interest need to be completed HERE by 12 August 2022. Due to COVID-19, the number of attendees will be restricted.
Further information on the speakers and the agenda will be forthcoming on our website.
At yesterday’s Enterprise Bargaining meeting, your CPSU NSW Delegates outlined our position on Southern Cross University (SCU) management’s proposed changes to the Performance Management and Misconduct Processes. The CPSU NSW’s changes seek to ensure the clauses are clearer in interpretation and application, while not giving up hard-fought protections. SCU management agreed with most of our changes.
On one matter – SCU management’s proposal to remove two internal review committees – your CPSU NSW Delegates advised that we will consider this removal ONLY IF SCU management representatives give favourable consideration to our proposed leave provisions for stillbirth and miscarriage. We believe that we can achieve the same level of protections for members that these clauses proport through Dispute Resolution and Fair Work proceedings where required.
SCU management has uploaded its proposed leave provisions on the university’s Enterprise Agreement webpage HERE (staff login required).
It is important to note that SCU proposal: Leave Entitlements is the university’s preferred bargaining outcome. However, it has not been agreed to by either union. The elements that remain contentious for the CPSU NSW are:
Personal Leave
SCU management’s proposal seeks to enforce new requirements to provide a reason for the taking of personal leave beyond ‘not fit for duty’. We believe this is an unnecessary invasion of our members’ right to privacy. Further, management intends to remove the provisions which require a medical certificate after the third consecutive day of personal leave and replace it with an ambiguous clause which will give your supervisor the right to request documentation for ANY absence, no matter the duration. We strongly believe this will be inequitably applied across the university and will continue to challenge this amendment.
Long Service Leave
SCU management is proposing to give supervisors the right to direct you to take accrued LSL without any of the protections in our current Enterprise Agreement. Its draft clause means it can effectively compel you to take any and all of your accrued LSL with six months’ notice, regardless of your personal circumstances. Further, management also seeks to limit your right to take LSL at a time of your own choosing by limiting it to requests for leave of four weeks or more. This is a significant diminution of conditions which directly contradicts its own claim for “Leave entitlements to be consistent with current Enterprise Agreement”.
Parental Leave
The CPSU NSW continues to assert our claim for an increase in leave provided to employees who experience still birth (12 weeks’ leave) and the insertion of a clause to provide employees who experience miscarriage leave of up to five days per instance. There has been movement across the sector in this space and we don’t believe our members should be left behind. Miscarriage leave is now standard in the NSW Public Sector and indeed, has been incorporated into the Fair Work Act under Compassionate Leave. It is our firm view that improving our leave provisions in this way will increase the availability of the workplace for women.
Not a member? Join HERE.
The National Parks Vocational Branch (NPVB) met on Tuesday 10 May to discuss a range of industrial issues affecting members. Please see a summary of the issues below:
Troy Wright (Assistant General Secretary of the PSA) explained the need for a pay rise for members. In 2011 a wages cap enshrined in legislation the annual pay rises to a maximum 2.5 per cent. Since then, most years, it has covered rises in inflation. Unfortunately, inflation is now over 5 per cent. Hence the PSA wrote to the Government requesting a pay rise higher than the 2.5 per cent cap in public sector pay rises. It also asked that employer superannuation contributions for women should continue for 12 months after the birth of a child. To date there has been no response from the Government. This being the case the PSA will consider its options as to how to progress the matter.
Any campaign for a pay rise will come at a significant cost to the PSA. Funding for a pay rise case will come from members’ contributions. Hence we ask that you encourage any NON MEMBERS to join up and support the PSA pay rise campaign.
Discussion was had in relation to womens’ roles in firefighting. This included the provision of appropriate career paths and training for women to progress through operational fire roles to perform senior roles in incident management teams.
There continues to be discrepancies and inconsistency in the application of the flexible work toolkit by managers across the state. Basically it’s a mess!
The PSA is analysing the results of the members’ survey on COVID and flexible work and will continue to raise this issue based on the survey results.
After many years of the PSA raising the issue of staff housing, the PSA understands that repairs have been made to some on park housing in Greater Sydney Branch to bring them up to a standard to allow staff rental, however issues remain in other parts of the state. In particular at more remote locations off park accommodation needs to be sourced to encourage staff retention.
Once again recruitment is being undertaken for a program that is intended to run for 5 years whilst initial recruitment for roles in the program is only for 12 months. Given the full employment situation in most regional areas some additional incentive is required to encourage potential applicants. A role extending out to 5 years would be an added incentive. Discussions in relation to this matter are ongoing with the department.
The PSA also met with NPWS management to discuss recent flood and landslip incidents not being declared as incidents under our award. The PSA believes that these incidents meet the requirements to be a declared incident.
NPWS management undertook to review the situation and respond back. The PSA will continue to pursue this issue.