TELSTRA PULSE SURVEYS - NOT REALLY CONFIDENTIAL

Last week we attended a meeting with Telstra to hear about changes to the Pulse survey. We pursued the issue of confidentiality. The take away is this - Your responses are NOT confidential.
Your TL or manager will get the raw results (not your name) if more than 3 people in your group respond.
Obviously sometimes your comment may allow you to be identified by the TL or Manager.
You should not make comments if it will identify you. Better not to respond if you have concerns.
What happens if you are identified will depend on the integrity of your TL and Manager? Your manager may (hopefully) see it as positive feedback. Or it may provoke adverse action against you (Legal penalties would apply).
Telstra advice at the meeting: If you are uncomfortable, do not respond.
Telstra correctly agreed that if a TL or Manager sought to find out who made comments, then action would be taken by Telstra.

OPTUS RETAIL - ENFORCEABLE UNDERTAKING

We reported last week on the large penalties imposed on Optus for breaching the Retail EBA. Optus has written to our union as follows:
Over the past few years, Optus has been proactiveIy reviewing its payroll practices and processes. While our review continues, I want to let you know that we've agreed to enter into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) relating to Optus Retail
As you know, in 2020, we advised the FWO that we had commenced a review of our payroll practices across Optus, including entitlements under the Optus Retail Agreement 2013. This review showed there were a number of instances where we had not complied with some of our obligations under the Optus Retail Agreement 2013, resulting in some of our Retail employees not receiving their correct entitlements over the period 2014 to 2020.
We notified the FWO of these issues and as part of the EU we have committed to additional compliance training as well as an independent audit.
To ensure this does not happen again, we've already taken steps to apply more stringent processes and made greater investment in our systems and controls. We have communicated directly with current and former employees who have been affected and have made back-payments to all employees whose details we have or were able to locate, including interest and superannuation (where applicable).
We offer our sincere apologies to all those affected.
At Optus, we highly value the contributions of all our amazing people and believe strongly that everyone must receive their correct entitlements. As our payroll review across Optus continues, and where issues are identified, we will continue to communicate directly with anyone affected, ensuring back-payments are made and the issue is resolved.
Again, we are deeply sorry and disappointed that we didn't always get things right, and please be assured that we are committed to strengthening our practices and processes to ensure we can be at our best.

E000 TELSTRA MATTERS

We are reporting on the long list of issues that we took to the meeting with Telstra following withdrawal of the Bullying application. Some of these issues are long and we will report them over several Bulletins. Your feedback is welcome. Also our delegates Shona Webby (Sydney) and Nicole Murphy (Melbourne) were at the meeting and would be happy to receive your feedback and comment. Or you can email me directly. For our submission for the meeting see CWU E000 Issues More next week.

E000 - PERFORMANCE SUPPORT PLANS

CWU Submission
See our position in CWU E000 Issues More next week.
Telstra
Performance Support Plans are aimed to support employees who are struggling to meet core role requirements, they are not formal management and most employees usually improve within a short period of time. When asked "what would this support look like" -First step would be discussion to understand the employees concerns, then observation , then discussion on the activities of support, eg Mouse skill capability training (we did this in the new platform pre deployment phase 2017-2019 and this assisted a lot of employees with the transition).
In regards to how feedback is delivered, if any employee feels uncomfortable or unsafe, we encourage them to raise this directly with the Centre Manager. This enables the business to work with the leaders and agents to ensure these type of interactions are positive ones.

E000 - SECRET FILES ON WORKERS

CWU Submission
See our position in CWU E000 Issues More next week.
Telstra
Copies of HR Related Files Shona had previously requested via AskHR copies of any notes/files that are on her personnel file
Agreed Actions- Shona was advised to email her request to (a HR email address we can give you) (this would be sent to the Privacy manager for review).

UNEXPLAINED PAY CHANGES

CWU Submission
See our position in CWU E000 Issues More next week.
Telstra
Needing Pay changes explained- The information is published on the Intranet each year and it is listed in the Policies @ AskHR- A merit matrix is published annually on AskHR, visible to employees. After receiving your email today I have contacted HR to obtain that data for Shona also. Shona can view her performance reviews and Pay History directly in Workday also - steps listed below. Employees also have access to the Internal Resolution Policy (IRP) which ensures that employees have the right to be treated fairly and understand the reasons for decisions and actions that might impact their employment with Telstra. It provides a simple process that employees can use to seek the review of such decisions or actions including the ability to resolve them informally.-Internal Resolution Policy (IRP) - Telstra
To View previous Performance reviews: Go to: ** Workday ** Performance ** Performance Reviews
To View previous Pay History" Go to: ** Workday ** Compensation ** Pay Change History

LONGEST SERVICE

One of our long serving Victorian Telstra Members, Doug Newington, was interviewed on ABC Breakfast radio last week, regarding a major employment milestone. He also appeared on the Ch 7 Sunrise program. Doug joined the employment of the Post Master General's (PMG) department in January 1959, as a trainee tech. (The PMG morphed into Telecom Australia, then Telstra, following privatisation). After 6 months of "probation" he then joined our union (then PTTA), which subsequently morphed into the ATEA, then the CWU.
Doug is currently the longest serving Telstra employee, having cranked over 65 years of service, and shows no signs of retiring. So he is our longest full time Union member, who is still working in the industry full time. What a record!
The T&S Branch congratulates Doug on this milestone and wishes him all the best for his future employment with Telstra - all we have to do is keep him continuing enjoying that 2 wheeled conveyance (yes, a dedicated bikie - maybe that's the key to his longevity!!) and hold a glass up to his long term commitment to the Technical trade. Well done Doug! (John Ellery)

ACTU WELCOMES CRACKDOWN ON DODGY TRAINING PROVIDERS

The ACTU welcomes the announcement that the Albanese government will seek to pass legislation to crack down on dodgy providers in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. The proposed Bill will give powers to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) to act against registered training organisations (RTOs) who have been using their operations to avoid regulatory requirements or conduct fraudulent activity.
The Bill will put greater scrutiny on RTOs and increase fines for non-compliance of their obligations. It will also give the Minister more power to intervene in the registration of new RTOs.
This reform is a great first step in a much-needed process to remove the worst-behaving providers from the VET system and ensure that we can rely on VET to deliver the skilled workers we will need for the jobs of the future.