The Southern Downs Regional Council is continuing to dig its heels in over a new industrial agreement with its white collar workforce and remains determined to strip back rostered day off (RDO) conditions for those employees.
Currently the council’s administrative or ‘indoor’ ‘Stream A’ employees are entitled to a ‘nine-day fortnight’ flexible working condition but the council is seeking to reduce their RDO’s to one day per month, arguing that the current arrangement is unproductive.
The case is currently before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC). Submissions have been presented to the QIRC by both the council and The Services Union, which represents local government employees across Queensland.
A new enterprise bargaining agreement was recently struck with unions representing the council’s ‘outdoor’ or ‘Stream B’ workforce, who have retained their nine-day fortnight condition.
It is understood around 30 councils across Queensland utilise a nine-day fortnight as a standard condition of employment along with other government agencies and providers.
While the Southern Downs Regional Council has gone to great lengths to plead its case through the QIRC, transcripts of hearings before the commission held in May of this year and obtained by the Free Times show senior council managers – including chief executive officer David Keenan – received grillings by The Services Union representatives over affidavits supplied earlier to back up its case.
Mr Keenan was pressed on the details to back up the council’s claims about productivity, having argued that “demands from the community” over service levels were behind the drive to reduce RDO’s for white collar workers.
Mr Keenan was asked to produce documentary evidence to back up the council’s arguments but was forced to concede that “feedback” he had received from the community and businesses was essentially anecdotal.
“So have you got a log of those inefficiencies and difficulties?” Mr Keenan was asked by the union representative.
“I have feedback from councillors,” Mr Keenan replied.
“I have feedback from developers within the region.
“I have feedback from the community about levels of frustration experienced in trying to deal with staff when they’re not available.
“Do I have a detailed log? I do not.”
“But you’re making a statement that there’s difficulties and complaints, but you don’t have any record of them?” Mr Keenan was asked.
“I get difficulties and complaints across the organisation on various matters, and I won’t necessarily have a log on all those matters,” he replied.
“But if you’re making a statement that these things happen, how can you evidence that’s occurring?” he was then asked.
“I can only give you the feedback that I receive from the councillors and the community in my role as CEO,” Mr Keenan replied.
“So you can’t provide any evidence of those complaints or those conversations?” he was asked.
“The conversations relate to a level of frustration in relation to particularly the development process, particularly having access to staff members, especially when the RDOs come into play, so I can only give you that feedback,” Mr Keenan responded.
Likewise the council’s Director of Corporate Services Joanne Morris was also called on during the May hearings to give evidence before the QIRC, stating that “some areas within my portfolio are very deadline-driven” and that the nine-day fortnight arrangement was unworkable.
“For example, at present the finance team are working on quarterly budget reviews, preparing the 1920 budget, the fringe benefit tax return, implementing new system modules, end of month reporting and preparing for end of financial year within 30 strict time frames,” Ms Morris stated in her evidence.
“Losing each member of the team for one whole day a fortnight adversely impacts on the ability of the team to meet these deadlines.
“The concept of RDOs has been superseded by modern technology.
“The concept that employees require days off work to undertake errands such as banking, medical appointments, hairdressers’ appointments et cetera has been superseded by the ability to perform banking online, book appointments online.
“Additionally, many services that staff would previously utilise their RDO for are open after hours on evenings and weekends.”
Other council staff cross-examined during the May hearings conceded that no formal survey of ratepayers had been carried out seeking their views on removal of the nine-day fortnight provision.
But evidence was given that members of the public had at times given verbal feedback in respect of council staff along the lines of “youse are never at work”.
The Services Union Branch Secretary Neil Henderson told the Free Times there was strong evidence to suggest that flexible working arrangements such as a nine-day fortnight improved workforce efficiency and overall staff morale.
The full bench of the QIRC is expected to make a final ruling on the case within the next few weeks but no date has yet been set.
