After the Sky Channel meetings on 10 June, the PSA received a number of questions from members. We have collated the questions and provide the answers in this faxstream.
| Question | Answer |
| Will my hours of work change if the offer is accepted? | No, hours of work will remain exactly the same as they are now. |
| Will I have to take on additional duties? | No, the offer is based on existing duties. |
| Do we have work bans still in place? | No, except for cash flow budgeting work bans. Continue to work to rule (i.e. no unpaid overtime.) |
| If we accept the offer will I have to apply for my own job? | No, there will be direct appointment to all classifications. |
| I am a School Assistant with a five-year salary scale. How will the increases apply to me? | You will receive an average 5.7% increase on your existing salary. |
| When do the increases apply? | 1 July 2004 |
| Is that all we will get? | No, School Assistants and Senior School Assistants will get further increases from the Salaries Award application the PSA has in the Industrial Relations Commission. The PSA expects this increase to be determined by the end of the year. The current offer is part-settlement of the PSA's claim only. The PSA has reserved the right to pursue further improvements to the salary and career structure. |
| What about the staffing increases? | The casual staffing hours for data entry and GST and the extra hours allocated last year will be made permanent hours this year. There will be additional permanent staffing from 2005. |
| We expected a lot more. Why didn't we turn down the offer and go for bigger increases? | If you had voted NO to the offer it will be a very long time before the PSA would be able to get salary increases. Legal advice has been obtained and it is very doubtful that we would succeed with an application before the Industrial Relations Commission (apart from the Public Sector salaries application now before the IRC). |
| What about the other classifications of SAS staff not included in the offer? | We are continuing work to improve career structures for other classifications, eg Teachers Aides Special. |
| Does the acceptance of the offer mean we have staffing for each category or will there be staffing to suit the school? | There will be staffing in each category needed by the school. |
| Are the additional permanent staffing hours from GST offered to a permanent part-time member? | Yes, any additional staffing hours should be offered firstly to a permanent part-time member of staff. |
| Can the permanent Administration Manager be allocated the permanent GST and Corporate Data hours? | No, the additional hours must be offered to a permanent part-time staff member. The intention of the PSA in getting these hours made permanent was to retain the hours and to deal with work overload issues.
Administrative Managers and other staff who require overtime should seek approval from their Principal and claim the overtime worked. |
| Can the Department bring in new and additional workloads whilst negotiations are happening? | The offer was made on the basis of continuation of existing work. |
| Are schools to pay day to day casuals? | There have been no discussions on this. |
| What are the duties of School Support Officers? | School Support Officers are not Teachers Aides. They will do a fundamental range of School Assistant's duties, but not the more complex tasks. |
| Will the new School Support Officer position be permanent? | Yes. |
| Will the new School Support Officer positions be allocated according to the number of students in a school? | Yes, just as all SAS staff positions are allocated according to the number of students. Talks on the exact placement of the positions will take place in the Implementation Committee. |
| Why did Senior School Assistant (Administrative Manager) positions go to 35 hpw? | DET withdrew from those negotiations because of cost implications for DET. |
| What happens to Library Assistants who are working 36¼ hpw? | They will retain their existing 36¼ hpw. |
| Will there be a change in policy for small schools when a drop in enrolments results in a drop in the Senior School Assistant's rate of pay and the loss of casual support? | This issue is to be discussed by the Implementation Committee. |
| How will existing casual School Assistants gain permanency during the conversion of additional GST and data entry hours to permanent hours? | The PSA is negotiating with the Department to advertise all vacant positions internally to all schools to allow long-term temporary SAS staff to apply for them internally. This exercise has been done in previous years with great success. It will be done before the conversion of hours. |
| What about a Teachers Aide Special review? | The Department has said "no" to a review. The PSA has established a Special Education Committee to examine and address issues of concern to Teachers Aide Special. Teachers Aide Special will receive pay increases from the PSA's salary award application which is before the Industrial Relations Commission. |
| Is there a career path? | It is the Association's aim to have incremental levels both in the Grade 2 and Grade 3 classification. |
| What is the PSA's position on the web services project? | The Teachers' Federation has a ban on it. Until the PSA has advised that consultation and negotiation on web services is finalised members should not be involved in the premature rollout of the web services project. |
| "No Extra Claims" - "No Industrial Action" clauses. | Both these clauses are standard clauses in awards. The Award can be varied by consent of both parties. |
Completely erroneous information has been given to some schools staff about very high salary levels for SAS staff in other states. The facts are as follows:
The PSA has been congratulated by our counterparts in other states for our achievements for SAS staff.
The PSA has written to the Department and formally accepted the offer. The offer included the establishment of an Award Implementation Committee. The Association wants the committee to meet before the end of term to begin the negotiations to implement the Award.
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