September 1999 Volume 80 Number 9
"serving the protectors"
| September 1999 Volume 80 Number 9 "serving the protectors" |
|
|
|
| By
Mark Carroll Assistant
Secretary |
The Association has received a number of enquiries recently regarding penalty payments for New Year’s Eve. Member complaints focus on past rostering practices by SAPOL, which deny the public holiday penalty rate and enforce up to four hours of compulsory overtime. This year it is expected that the New Year’s Eve celebrations will have an unprecedented demand on members who will be required to police an extraordinary event. Further, this demand will deny the vast majority of police the opportunity to partake in arguably the biggest and last celebration this century.
THE AWARD
The Police Officers Award, Clause 10, states:
“The day of the week with which a shift is identified is determined by the day in which the greater portion of the shift is worked.”
Consequently, members rostered to start at 2000 hours are regarded as working the majority of their shift on the following day. Members rostered to start at 1930 hours are not. This is where the problem arises. SAPOL has rostered a majority of employees in the past at 1930 hours thus avoiding a public holiday or weekend penalty being paid. To add salt to the wound, overtime of up to four hours is enforced at the end of the shift.
These rostering practices are vide the Award, and as such, quite legitimate. This year, however, the pill is hard to swallow. Reports of other workers, especially in the liquor and hospitality industry, receiving extraordinary payments to work the New Year, causes member frustration. Employers in the private sector are offering these payments as an incentive to ensure they have adequate staff to deliver a service. Police officers, governed by their own Act of Parliament, do not have such luxury. One must obey lawful orders, and if one doesn’t have a bona-fide reason for failing to report to duty (i.e. illness), one may be charged with a breach of police regulations.
WHAT’S THE ASSOCIATION DOING?
The Association has written to SAPOL seeking discussions on rostering practices for New Year’s Eve. At the time of writing (16.8.99), a meeting is scheduled for Monday 23.8.99. Issues concerning the Association and listed for discussion are:
- Penalty Payments applicable to New Year’s Eve 1999-2000.
- Whether Government will regard New Year’s Eve as a public holiday for payment purposes.
- Rostering practices and use of starting times/overtime.
- Promulgation of SAPOL’s operation order.
- Use of day workers and Clause 14 workers.
- Training of non-operational employees required to work in an operational role.
- Partners both required to work and child care responsibilities.
- Resources.
Members will be kept informed of the progress of this issue via a general newsletter, The Industrial Front or delegates’ meeting. Those with individual concerns regarding their specific circumstances should not hesitate to give me a call.
The recent ballot has been returned with a majority of “Yes” votes counted. Of the ballots returned, 73% voted to trial the Commissioner’s offer of an allowance in lieu of shift penalty payments. At the time of writing, the Association awaits further correspondence from SAPOL on amending the Police Officers Award to provide a legal framework in which the allowance will operate. Members will soon be advised of these details.
The Police Federation of Australia (PFA) recently endorsed a membership survey to be conducted by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training (ACIRRT). This will involve members from each police jurisdiction in Australia and will commence in the first quarter of 2000.
The purpose of the survey is to develop and undertake a comprehensive statistical analysis of the salary, wages and overall remunerative conditions of police officers throughout Australia and New Zealand. This research will provide data to test the comparative remuneration of members across a multi-jurisdictional base.
The national executive of the PFA considers that this research data would be an invaluable tool for branches in progressing enterprise agreements. Further information on the development and implementation will be provided regularly through The Industrial Front.
|
||||||||||
|
The Police Journal Online is an official
publication of the Police Association of South Australia and is published
monthly. Editors of kindred publications can seek permission from the Editor to re-publish any Police Journal Online article. Copyright 1999 The Police Association of South Australia sustance |