1. AGD Enterprise Agreement negotiations CPSU summary of management offer April 2016

2. CPSU bargaining priorities  Late last year, we went back to members across the APS to determine what their highest priorities were for settling the current dispute.  The identified priorities were:  Protecting rights and conditions, particularly as enforceable rights in Agreements  Not cutting workers’ take home pay, including salary and allowances  Maintaining real wages, recognising the extended delay to bargaining.

3. Where are we up to in bargaining?  Management has now tabled a complete offer approved by the APSC  Negotiation continues  Management has indicated that:  The consideration period will run from 18-25 April  Voting will occur from 26-29 April  As a result, the consideration period will occur in the second week of the ACT school holidays.

4. What improvements does the offer have over the current AGD EA?  Nominal pay (6% over the 3 years of the EA)  Improved personal leave for non-ongoing staff in their first year of service (but worse accrual rates after their first year)  Some beneficial change to evidence requirements for personal leave, but a new possibility of medical certificates being required for all leave  Indigenous cadet advancement

5. How is the offer better than the last offer?  Pay offer has improved from 4.5% to 6%  Proposed additional pay points removed  Part-time agreements will not be able to varied without consent  Travel allowance will not be changed  Better personal leave for non-ongoing staff in their first year of service, and AGS staff (18->20 days)  Some beneficial change to personal leave evidence requirements (but with the new possibility of medical certificates for all leave in certain circumstances)  Some improvements on consultation and representation  Indigenous cadet advancement  Extra week supporting partner leave for AGS, and right to part-time work while child is less than two years old

6. What is the same?  Abolish APS5-6 broadband  Abolish Legal Officer 5-6 broadband  Reduce graduate starting classification to APS4 from 2017  Health and wellbeing allowance removed  Weaken consultation provisions  Remove union delegate rights  Remove enforceability of employment policies  Remove commitment to carer’s room  Remove commitment to EAP  Remove ‘aspirational clauses’  ‘Streamline’ other substantive rights eg most guidance on EL hours

7. What is worse?  Cut personal leave for most AGD staff from 22 to 20 days  Remove shutdown substitute days for part-timers, women on their 12 weeks paid maternity leave, and people on long service leave (equates to loss of up to 3 days paid leave)  Abolish LO/SLO/PLO local designations and removing the last vestige of the LO broadband  Remove minimum pay point for admitted LOs  Cut AGS maternity leave from 15 to 14 weeks  Cut AGS productivity bonus (the only bonus received by AGS non-legal staff)  Cut AGS $500 fire warden allowance (affects 25-30 officers)  Cut AGS additional remuneration review  Move AGS to FCS super

8. Groups particularly affected  Junior staff  Disproportionately affected by removal of H&W and firewarden allowances, and AGS productivity bonus  Removal of very valuable 5-6 and LO broadbands  People with caring responsibilities  Cuts to AGS maternity leave  Cuts to AGD personal leave including carer’s leave  Cut to substitute shutdown days for part-timers and women on maternity leave  Cut the commitment to a carer’s room and EAP  Failure to move family violence leave into the Agreement  AGS staff  Some improvements eg supporting partner leave, personal leave  However, important conditions lost: productivity bonus, additional rem review, OTE superannuation and others  Some better conditions levelled down e.g. maternity leave  Not levelled up in a number of cases where worse conditions (eg redundancy conditions) — although the APSC has indicated that this would not be an enhancement of conditions under the bargaining framework

9. Remuneration  6.0% over three years, paid:  2.5% on commencement  2 % 12 months from commencement  1.5 % 24 months from commencement  No back pay or sign on bonus despite unprecedented delay driven by the APSC’s inflexible policy  Pay rise funded by:  Restructure  Downgrading graduate progression  Removing the Health and Wellbeing Allowance  Removing the AGS productivity bonus (generally about $1000 pa)  Pay offer paid for by cuts  Some staff will effectively get no pay rise in year 1 due to lost allowances, particularly lower classified AGS non-legal staff  All staff will see their real wages go down  CPI has already risen by 5.4% between the June quarter 2013 (our last pay rise) and December 2015

10. S l o w i n g career progression  Future grads will be classified APS4 upon completion rather than APS5 (from 2017 cohort on)  Abolishing the APS5–6 broadband  Abolishing the Legal Officer Broadband  Removing the APS4.3 minimum pay point for admitted LOs  This will:  keep more future grads at APS4  keep more officers at APS5  Allow legally qualified and admitted staff to be engaged at lower levels  Likely affect the Department’s ability to retain these staff

11. Removal of allowances  Management propose to remove:  the approx $1000 productivity bonus for AGS staff  the $500 Fire Warden Allowance for AGS staff  the $300 Health and Wellbeing Allowance for AGD staff.  In relation to the H&W allowance, it is better to be paid the H&W Allowance as a reimbursement, as this is tax free — if rolled into salary it is taxed at your marginal tax rate of 15–38%  Unfair—has a greater proportional impact on more junior staff

12. ‘Streamlining’  Cutting a range of provisions from the EA, including:  Removal of almost many provisions for staff consultation, particularly the AGS Employee Council  Removal of commitment to Employee Assistance Programme  Removal of most guidance on TOIL for ELs  Removal of the Indigenous employment target  Removal of commitment to a carer’s room  And others  Don’t forget—anything removed from the Agreement:  can be changed unilaterally by management without staff agreement or consultation — e.g. Study Assistance and performance management arrangements were changed without staff agreement during the life of the last EA  will be much harder to enforce once management remove the ability to use EA dispute provisions to enforce ERAs

13. Enforceability of employment policies  Currently, disputes about employment policies (ERAs) are explicitly covered by the EA dispute resolution provisions  This allows Fair Work to step in to resolve disputes, by compulsory arbitration if necessary  Management propose to remove the right to seek resolution through the Fair Work Commission  This will substantially undermine our ability to keep management honest on employment policies  In previous industrial disputes, AGS has advised Commonwealth agencies that FWC has no jurisdiction over policies

14. Consultation  ‘Streamlining’ the Workplace Relations Committee to remove:  Power for WRC to control its own procedures.  Requirement that staff representatives be elected  Abolishing the AGS Employee Council  Management assert that this is necessary to have ‘one AGD’—but nevertheless want to maintain significantly different conditions for AGS staff eg redundancy.  Removing the requirement for Divisional consultative committees

15. Other proposed cuts  AGS maternity leave (from 15 weeks to 14 weeks)  Cutting substitute shutdown days for:  Women on paid maternity leave  People on long service leave  Part-timers who ordinary work days do not fall on the shutdown days  Recognition of the role of staff union delegates  A very challenging role, helping staff in very difficult personal situations  Important that this role be recognised and protected to encourage staff to come forward to help each other.  Superannuation—moving AGS to FCS super salary  Removing AGS additional remuneration reviews  Delaying the outcome of the AGS annual remuneration review to 1 August (currently last Thursday in June)

16. Other changes  Abolish ‘legal officer’ (LO, SLO, PLO) designations/job titles  Likely to have career impacts for legally qualified staff who want to retain ability to move to other legally focussed areas  Not necessary to:  reclassify position from legal to non-legal, or  address any ongoing differences in treatment between staff.  Shift work changes — consultation on 12 hour shifts, and changes to Higher Duties Allowance eligibility  Allowing greater annual leave cash out  Changing PPI ratings  Other minor changes, e.g. manager can require a medical certificate for personal leave

17. Next steps  Union members taking action across the APS have already forced some changes to the Government’s position e.g. superannuation, pay offers  To improve this offer and win this campaign:  Fill out our survey  Join  Talk  Show your support  Volunteer AGD Union Delegate inbox: delegate@ag.gov.au