Australian Super Union Guide
Simplifying super for unions
Over the past 2 weeks ASU members from all Serco’s have had off-site meetings together to discuss possible improvements at Serco. To find out what issues and actions were discussed, see the minutes here.
On the 31st of December SERCO finally issued the bargaining notices, meaning we will now be bargaining for a new EBA. This is the result of ASU members sticking together, signing up their fellow co-workers, and putting pressure on Serco to come to the bargaining table via the majority support petition. The next step is…
An ASU member, Jane* had her employment terminated reached, with the assistance of the ASU, a settlement as part of an unfair dismissal claim where the employer had been arguing that her termination occurred because a fixed term contract has expired. The case involved the employer arguing that whilst the contract itself did not specifically identify…
The ASU receives many queries and often participates in disputes around members returning to work from maternity leave who are seeking flexible working arrangements in order they can juggle work and family commitments. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 provisions exist to enable such employees to request flexible work arrangements which the employer can reject…
A recent Federal court decision has determined that the usual entitlements an employee receives when taking annual leave should also be provided for accrued annual leave when the employment is terminated. Whilst members under enterprise agreements may receive shift penalties or other allowances when take their annual leave the significance for members in general is…
Each year the Fair Work Commission reviews all the pay rates and allowance payments under all of the Awards and makes the adjustments as it deems necessary or fair. For 2015 all Award wages have been adjusted by 2.5% as well as the national minimum wage which is now $17.29 an hour. This is effective…
The ASU has been dealing with a number of enquiries regarding hours and reasonable overtime. The queries have mainly come from individuals who have an individual contract as part of their conditions of employment. Some of these employees on individual contracts are also not covered by either an Enterprise Agreement or Award usually because of…
The Abbott Government recently announced they would ask the Productivity Commission to conduct a review of Australia’s ‘workplace relations framework’. We’ve been asked by many members what this actually means. Simply put, it means the Abbott Government is seeking to have the Commission review the laws and the Federal Government institutions that oversee these laws…
The technical developments of the last twenty years or so have forever changed our workplaces and the way we work, such that the break between work and leisure has become a blur. The ASU has been dealing with a number of cases recently involving social media, GPS tracking, camera monitoring in call centres and surveillance…