General Staff Classification
Classification Intimidation Not OK!
NTEU was made aware in recent days of some staff facing intimidation from supervisors and senior managers in relation to signing Position Descriptions. NTEU notified a dispute over the conduct of a number of senior managers and supervisors and has had preliminary discussions with HR to fix growing concerns that the FWA Agreed Outcome was not being properly implemented. NTEU understands most supervisors have acted professionally and collegially in this difficult time, and we are disappointed that the conduct of a small group has created so much difficulty.
HR Advice Misrepresented Outcome
Despite NTEU advice, it appears many managers have tried to implement arbitrary and unrealistic timeframes created by HR. There was no requirement to 'finalise' Position Description documentation by 1st July. The FWA Agreed Outcome (download below) clearly states those HEW4.4 and HEW5.6 not included in the NTEU group from 2011 would have their PDs reviewed with the University using reasonable endeavours to do that by 20th July. Any staff member or supervisor who believes they were pressured into signing a Position Description by the 1st July because of the HR advice is encouraged to contact NTEU. Further, despite the FWA Agreed Outcome clearly detailing the process should a PD remain unagreed, the HR advice made absolutely no reference to that process and referred to the PD needing to be 'finalised' by 1st July. Any staff member who did not understand they were not required to sign a PD they did not agree with is encouraged to contact NTEU.
Some staff were not provided their current signed PD, nor given time to properly consider and receive advice over new draft PDs.
NTEU will be lodging appeals on behalf of members over these issues and ensuring PDs are developed which are accurate and meet the requirements of our Union Collective Agreement and the FWA Agreed Outcome.
May Post Below
After months of discussions, and following intervention by Fair Work Australia, on 2nd May 2012 NTEU resolved its dispute with the Senior Managers of the University over the process for Classification of General Staff. The outcome affected hundreds of staff, including all HEW4 and HEW5 staff, so please carefully read the advice below and consider the next step you need to take.
FWA Agreed Outcome
The decision given on transcript (in FWA Hearing) can be downloaded here.
(13 KB) - PDF
Swinburne Classification Dispute - Agreed Outcome
Published: 07 May, 2012Tags: swinburne, classification, General Staff, general staff classification,
The decision given on transcript (in FWA Hearing) can be downloaded here.
For those involved in our 2011/12 Classification Campaign, Senior Management has agreed to prioritise your classification applications. Where a PD has not yet been agreed, or discussed, the University will ensure this is done by 29 June 2012. Where agreement cannot be reached on the PD, it will go to a Classification Appeals Process. For those with a PD already agreed with your supervisor, the PD will now proceed to the Head of Management Unit for approval.
Importantly, NTEU has forced the University to backdate any successful reclassification applications for campaign members to 21 November 2011. This will require the staff member to have made a request for review of their PD prior to 21 March 2012, and for the eventual application to be successful.
The resolution details the process that will be used by a Head of Management Unit to determine whether proper consultation has occurred. That resolution will be posted on this website as soon as the transcript is received by NTEU.
Branch Contacts
Branch Office
TA107 TA Building
Swinburne University of Technology
Phone: 03 9214 8162
Fax: 03 9254 1935
swinburne@nteu.org.au
http://www.nteu.org.au/swinburne
James Latham
Branch President
jlatham@swin.edu.au
Linda Cargill
Branch Industrial Organiser
lcargill@nteu.org.au
