We met with TDN to continue bargaining for your new Enterprise Agreement and it has taken a turn for the worst.
Your claim for personal leave is that it replicates what is currently in the TDN agreement for all employees (which is 20 days personal leave). This is entirely fair and reasonable given you cannot take any risks working with clients whilst sick.
Unfortunately, their offer will segregate TDN employees and SECC employees by grandfathering the 20 days for TDN employees and leaving SECC employees, and any future employees, in the cold with only the current entitlement of 10 days, alleging this is an industry standard. TDN will only agree to increase your compassionate leave entitlement to 5 days and family domestic violence leave to 20 days IF you agree to their nasty personal leave offer.
To add insult to injury, they have only agreed to a 17.5% afternoon penalty, which TDN employees currently receive, if they can change your span of hours to 7am to 7pm. This means TDN will not pay the penalty unless you work shifts finishing after 7pm. This is outrageous! It is an assault on your entitlements, an assault on your wages and your family time. It basically gives them a green light to start extending your workday from 6pm to 7pm without any penalty to them.
They also have not agreed to the following items:
• Payment of sleepover shifts while on annual leave - if you are regularly and systematically rostered to do sleepover shifts, this leaves you at a disadvantage financially when you take leave
• Communicable disease allowance - if you are required to work with a client who has a communicable disease such as COVID 19, gastroenteritis or any disease classified as communicable by The Department of Health
• Nauseous work allowance
• Pregnancy loss leave
• Parental leave - 18 weeks paid parental maternity leave, or 4 weeks leave for non-primary carer in addition to the government provided paid leave arrangements
You should never go into bargaining to LOSE. If your personal leave is ‘grandfathered’ this means a whole new group of employees with a lesser entitlement will be preferred by TDN and you will see your hours of work likely slip away. The proposal to extend your hours to 7pm for no penalty is as equally unacceptable.
We’ll be fighting with you to retain these key entitlements.
If you have further questions or concerns, you can contact [email protected] or phone 1300 880 032.