Recently, the PSA and local members met with Employee Relations to address concerns raised regarding the accurate recording of hours, flexible working arrangements, travel time, and fleet management.

Local members provided detailed information, and Employee Relations sought for this to be reviewed with the business with a commitment to report back to the PSA in the coming weeks.

Here’s the report on the concerns raised and the response from the Department:

• Flex time/RDOs: PSA members expressed a preference for rostered days off (RDOs) over flex time.

Employee Relations clarified that reintroducing RDOs would result in a move to a 38-hour working week, inconsistent with the majority of DCS employees who are on a 35-hour working week covered by the flexible working hours agreement.

Feedback from the business indicates satisfaction with the current arrangement.

• Recording of hours and accrual of flex

Employees are required to accurately record their start and finish times on their timesheets, regardless of whether they conclude work after 4:00pm or before. It has been noted that the standard working day, according to feedback from the business, runs from 8:00am to 4:00pm. However, the business believes Inspectors have not been explicitly instructed to record these specific times on their timesheets.

Previously, the finish time was 4:30pm, enabling the last inspection to occur at 4:00pm. However, upon Inspectors’ request, the last inspection time was changed from 4:00pm to 3:30pm, resulting in a reduction of two inspections per day. Start times are determined by rules embedded in the scheduling tool since 2009, accounting for the commencement of the first inspection at 8:00am. This allows for a usual inspection time of 30 minutes, with the last potential inspection of the day scheduled for 3:30 pm, thus potentially accumulating 30 minutes of flex working time credit per day. In cases where inspections exceed the expected time allocation, employees are encouraged to notify their manager, who will ensure the additional time is reflected on their timesheet.

• Travel time

Employees should incur excess travel time as approved by the Clause 27 of the Crown Employees Conditions of Employment Award. Further discussion is welcomed on this matter if members feel they are unsure on how to record incurred travel time.

• Planning

Plumbing Inspectors having to access the system on a Sunday night to plan for Monday. The business has advised that appointments are loaded into the system by 4:30 pm each day, allowing for planning on Monday morning without accessing the computer on Sundays. The PSA has questioned why the appointments cannot be made available earlier in the day to avoid Inspectors working longer hours and/or having to check the appointments once they have arrived home.

• Work allocation and planned leave with reduced Inspectors:

The Department has stated that employees can take leave as long as there aren’t excessive absences. The work allocation system has rules to prevent issues such as allocating jobs during leave periods, including:

• Jobs are not allocated outside of business hours.
• Excessive job allocation on a particular day is prevented.
• Jobs are not assigned to employees on leave.

Members’ meeting: 30 May 2024

The PSA is seeking member feedback in relation to these responses from the business.  As such, we would like to invite you to a PSA members’ meeting on Tuesday 30 May at 12:00pm.  A calendar invitation will be sent to all members in Plumbing closer to the time.