Rockhampton Regional Council - conditions finally certified!
Members of The Services Union at Rockhampton Regional Council have delivered pay increases and other improvements through your new Certified Agreement (CA). Last Thursday we registered the CA with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission and it’s a great result!
Workers should already have received initial pay increases, with further increases to allowances now in effect. Pay improvements across the three years will be:
- Year 1 – 3% (effective from 1 July 2022)
- Year 2 – 3% or CPI whichever is greater
- Year 3 – 3% or CPI whichever is greater
This is a significantly better outcome than Council’s original offer, thanks to the efforts of you and your fellow members of our Union.
Together we were also able to achieve the following:
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Service Recognition Payment for employees with more than 5 years’ experience at their level – payable from next year
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Excess ATB that gets paid out twice a year will now be paid out at 1.5 times (ie overtime rate)
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No forced redundancies for the first 12 months, plus a commitment for a 12 week redeployment pool if redundancy is happening
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Paid days off for Xmas closedown - 2 days in 2nd year, 3 days in 3rd year - these days may be used in December or January.
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New allowances for Handling dead animals and Cleaning allowance ($7/day if cleaning toilets, cleaning animal or human excrement & vomit)
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Annualisation of external supervisors’ 38hr week - this will mean super, sick leave, annual leave etc will accumulate and be paid at a 38hr week for those working it.
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Leave can be accessed at half pay for any period of 3+ months (i.e., 3 month + 1 day) including annual leave, long service leave, sick leave (not ATB).
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Level 7+ contracts must be better off overall than the CA, and Employees on level 7 contracts will have right to elect to revert to Agreement conditions (employees on level 8 contracts will have the right to request)
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Abolition of MyPlan (though employees will still have access to learning and development plans where suitable)
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Minimum entry level of 1.6 – this is a great outcome for Heroes and any other new starters!
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Access to Long Service Leave in much shorter periods (1 day at a time)
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Personal leave payout on termination = 20% of all accrued from commencement of agreement or after three years’ service whichever is later
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Natural disaster leave and pandemic leave (uncapped)
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Meal allowances when travelling increased to $95 total per day (can be claimed on cumulative basis)
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CA allowances to increase by 2.5%
There Is Still More To Do
You’ve continued to deliver vital community services during unprecedented disruptions, and The Services Union has been by your side to ensure your new CA recognises this.
Now that we’ve certified your new Agreement, we can start work on implementing its improvements and addressing issues such as under-classification, workloads, and staff shortages.
We get the best results with a strong Union so encourage your colleagues to join. It’s quick, easy and confidential online.