FAMILY & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEAVE (FDV)

As of 1 Feb 2023 Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave became a workplace entitlement in Australia for all workers of non-small business employees. (Small business will be covered later) For the first time in this country's history, entitlement to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave will be extended to workers across the entire workforce.
This victory comes off the back of over ten years' hard work by feminist activists and unionists, and is the most significant change to workplace entitlements in a generation. This is a policy that will save lives, and it's important to take a moment to reflect on what we can all achieve when we come together and organise around significant workplace issues.

TELSTRA FORCED LEAVE - EASTER

Good news - Telstra advise
We will not be having an Easter shutdown this year. However, we'll be encouraging employees to take an extra annual leave day on the 6th or 11th of April to get a 5-day long weekend.

TELSTRA FORCED LEAVE - EASTER

Not so good for some. Telstra advised:
We'll once again have a summer shutdown. This will be for all but essential teams (including frontline) during the holiday period from Friday 22 Dec 2023 - Sunday 7 Jan 2024 (inclusive). As a bonus, if an employee takes an additional one week's leave during this time, they'll receive an extra bonus day off.

TELSTRA FORCED LEAVE - EXCESSIVE LEAVE

Again not so good news from Telstra:
We will also be taking a more proactive approach to managing excessive annual leave and ensuring employees with greater than 90 days LSL take their 9 days LSL before 31 December, in accordance with our policies and the Telstra EAs.
From Monday 27 Feb we will contacting employees who have more than 6 weeks annual leave (or 7 weeks annual leave if they are shiftworker) to ensure they work with their people leader to take at least 1 week of Annual Leave by 30 Jun 2023.
We will also be reminding employees with more than 90 days LSL to book their 9 days of LSL by 30 Jun 2023 to take before 31 Dec 2023.
As you know, employees may be directed to take leave in accordance with our policies. However, we also recognise that it may not be possible for some employees to take leave during these times, and we will consider reasonable exceptions.

SILICA DUST

Today, asbestos is a dirty word. It was just over 16 years ago that the victims of the lethal fibres had their suffering recognised.
Hundreds of thousands of ordinary working Australians and one fearless union activist brought justice to the company that knowingly endangered thousands of workers' lives. Asbestos is now banned in Australia and its disposal treated with the utmost seriousness.
But what about silica? You wouldn't take a job if you knew you'd be working in an area with asbestos. There is no reason silica dust should be treated any differently.
Union members led the campaign to end asbestos. And we will do so again to prevent silica-related deaths.