Offer to academic and general staff
An offer has been made today to academic and general staff to settle Round 4 of enterprise bargaining.
The offer has been made to staff via the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) which represents academic and general staff in the enterprise bargaining process.
As you may be aware, the current Enterprise Agreement for academic and general staff expired on 30 June 2003. In addition the university recently settled the first Round 4 enterprise agreement with a number of unions that represent trades and services (building, metal trades, grounds and gardening) staff.
The university’s proposal includes:
- a salary increase of 14.8% compounded;
- “roll over” of the majority of existing provisions; and
- some changes to existing provisions developed by the university’s enterprise bargaining team in response to feedback from university staff.
The university is also foreshadowing the possible insertion of clauses to enable the university to successfully attract the maximum available quantum of Federal Government funding pursuant to the recent Government announcements under “Backing Australia’s Future“.
In order to respond to proposals from the NTEU, the university reserves the right to modify its position in the course of negotiations.
The University’s offer
Enterprise Bargaining Memorandum to Academic and General Staff 2003
- Introduction
- Length of Agreement and salary
- Staff workloads
- Superannuation
- Parental leave, occupational welfare and bullying provisions
- Performance management
- Redundancy – general staff
- Disciplinary and grievance provisions
- Provisions for termination on basis of ill health
- Serious misconduct
- Clauses to attract Federal government
- Conclusion
I am writing to advise that Monash University has today made an offer to the university’s academic and general staff via the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) to settle Round 4 of Enterprise Bargaining.
As you may be aware, the current Enterprise Agreement for academic and general staff expired on 30 June 2003. In addition the university recently settled the first Round 4 enterprise agreement with a number of unions that represent trades and services (building, metal trades, grounds and gardening) staff.
The university’s proposal includes:
- a salary increase of 14.8% compounded;
- “roll over” of the majority of existing provisions; and
- some changes to existing provisions developed by the university’s enterprise bargaining team in response to feedback from university staff.
The university is also foreshadowing the possible insertion of clauses to enable the university to successfully attract the maximum available quantum of Federal Government funding pursuant to the recent Government announcements under “Backing Australia’s Future”.
I have written to the NTEU about this proposal and look forward to having early discussions with a view to progressing this offer to a finalised enterprise agreement.
Specifically the university’s proposal encompasses the following:
Length of Agreement and Salary
As with the last agreement, the university proposes that the agreement would have a nominal life of three years commencing from the date of certification, hopefully before the end of 2003. It will provide for salary increases comprising 14% (this compounds to 14.8%) with the first increase of 2% payable from the first pay period (p.p.) after 1st March 2004, as set out below.
- 2% on first p.p. after 1st March 2004
- 2% on first p.p. after 1st September 2004
- 2.5% on first p.p. after 1st March 2005
- 2.5% on first p.p. after 1st September 2005
- 2.5% on first p.p. after 1st March 2006
- 2.5 % on first p.p. after 1st September 2006
Staff Workloads
A new academic staff workloads clause is proposed, which would include a Workloads Review Committee to deal with grievances over workloads. General staff grievances would be handled under proposed new grievance resolution process (see below).
Superannuation
The university proposes variations to the existing superannuation clause to provide staff with a broader range of options on where to direct their superannuation contributions. The university is not seeking to reduce the level of employer contribution (17%) that is paid on behalf of current eligible staff.
Parental Leave, Occupational Welfare & Bullying Provisions
Consistent with the university’s commitment to providing a safe and family friendly working environment, the university proposes new provisions that address parental leave, occupational welfare and workplace bullying. These proposals include:
- Increasing existing parental leave provisions for primary carers to 14 weeks of fully paid leave. This would apply to all eligible general and academic staff.
- Amending the current clause 59 (Occupational Welfare) to allow the University to require staff to take leave and seek medical advice where the university has reasonable grounds to believe that a staff member is seriously unwell.
- A new workplace bullying clause that makes explicit the University’s policy that workplace bullying is unacceptable behaviour.
Performance Management
The university proposes a simplification of the existing general staff performance management processes into one system that will apply to all general staff levels, and which replaces the current 3-tiered system. The new provision is based on the current HEW 5-7 procedure.
Existing procedures for academic performance management would be fine-tuned to provide for more flexibility in the timing of the process to meet individual faculty and departmental needs and to allow for enhanced reporting of outcomes of the performance review process to deal with particular academic needs, including workload management.
Redundancy – General Staff
At present redundancy entitlements are based on age not years of service. This brings about an inequitable situation by discriminating against younger staff with many years of service. The university proposes to address this inequity.
Disciplinary and Grievance Provisions
A redrafted “plain English” general staff discipline process is proposed, as well as a new employment related grievance resolution process. The redrafted discipline process would include a simplified review process.
The new grievance resolution process would be a simplified version of the existing discrimination and harassment grievance resolution process, and would involve the appointment and training of advisors in each Faculty or Division to assist staff to resolve grievances.
Provisions for Termination on Basis of Ill Health
The existing provision dealing with the termination of employment on the grounds of ill health would be amended to make this provision workable and provide an appropriate mechanism whereby staff who have a serious illness may leave the university.
Serious misconduct
The academic staff discipline provisions would be amended to allow for summary dismissal only in the event of an academic staff member committing serious misconduct e.g. committing a serious criminal offence. This would bring the provision more into line with community standards.
Clauses to Attract Federal Government Funding
Earlier this year the Federal Government announced a range of budget initiatives under “Backing Australia’s Future”. If the university complies with various requirements (some of which are workplace relations based), then significant funding can flow to the university from 2005 onwards. Depending on clarification on some aspects of the budget initiatives, the university could gain in excess of $10 million per annum. The funding could be used to benefit staff in a range of ways, including assisting to fund salary increases, addressing staff workloads, making a safer workplace, improving research infrastructure, and providing better facilities and resources.
Aspects of “Backing Australia’s Future” are still unclear (having regard to the legislation still having to be passed by the Senate). As well, the Government has not yet announced the criteria that will need to be met in the workplace relations area. The university therefore reserves the right to propose additional clauses during negotiations that would enable it to attract the potentially significant funding that is available.
Conclusion
The university has proposed a pragmatic and realistic offer in the hope that we are able to settle this round of enterprise bargaining with a minimum amount of disruption to the university and its staff.
In order to respond to proposals from the NTEU, the university does reserve the right to modify its position in the course of negotiations.
I look forward to reporting positive progress on enterprise bargaining negotiations at Monash University. Staff members can follow the progress of negotiations for the 2003 Enterprise Agreement on the Enterprise Bargaining website at www.monash.edu.au/entbarg/
Kindest regards,
Alan Lindsay
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & Planning)