Perth Metropolitan Local Government Workforce Transition Checklist Table of Contents 1. Title....................................................2 2. Preamble.................................................2 3. Industrial instruments and arrangements..................2 4. Transmission of employees and conditions of employment...3 5. Indicative Timelines.....................................3 6. Checklist................................................4 Letter of Appointment (example) New Local Government........9 Letter of Appointment (example) Adjusted Local Government..11 Workforce Transition Plan Page 1 of 17
Transcript
Perth Metropolitan Local Government Workforce Transition Checklist
Letter of Appointment (example) New Local Government.......................................9
Letter of Appointment (example) Adjusted Local Government..............................11
Workforce Transition Plan Page 1 of 12
1. TitlePerth Metropolitan Local Government Workforce Transition Checklist.
2. Preamble2.1 The Local Government Workforce Transition Checklist forms part of the Local Government Reform Toolkit.
2.2. The Checklist has been developed to assist with the transition of local government workforces from merging or adjusted local governments to new or adjusted local governments resulting from local government reform in the Perth metropolitan area.
2.3. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Local Government Act 1995:
the local government is the employer of local government employee necessary to enable the functions of the local government and the functions of the council to be performed, as prescribed in the Local Government Act 1995, and
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for appointing employees, managing and resourcing the corporate structure designed for the conduct of the local government affairs with roles and responsibilities as prescribed in the Local Government Act 1995; and,
employees are to be selected and promoted in accordance with the principles of merit and equity; and
no power, with regard to matters affecting employees, is to be exercised on the basis of nepotism or patronage; and
employees are to be treated fairly and consistently; and there is to be no unlawful discrimination against employees or persons seeking
employment by a local government on a ground referred to in the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 or on any other ground; and
employees are to be provided with safe and healthy working conditions, in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 ;
3. Industrial instruments and arrangements3.1. The Checklist should be read and interpreted in conjunction with the applicable industrial instruments and arrangements including:
Local Government Industry Award 2010
Fair Work Act 2009
Local Government Act 1995 (Part 5, Division 4 and Schedule 2.1)
Contracts of Employment
By way of general guidance, for each local government existing jobs, terms and conditions and entitlements should transfer to the new or adjusted local governments on the changeover day. These arrangements should remain in place until the new industrial arrangements, including but not limited to enterprise agreements, are established.
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4. Transmission of employees and conditions of employment The following general principles are provided, to assist in the consideration of the status of employees, at the time of change-over from existing local governments to new or adjusted local governments.
4.1. Employees should transfer to the new or adjusted local governments on the changeover day. The employment of all local government employees by a predecessor local government would automatically cease on changeover day and commence with the new or adjusted local government under the same terms and conditions as existed prior to changeover day. Ordinarily there would be no break in employment during this changeover.
4.2. Employees should transfer to the employ of new or adjusted local governments on terms and conditions determined by their existing industrial instruments, with the benefit of existing employee entitlements. This should include, but not be limited to, long service leave, annual leave and personal leave accrued in respect of their employment with the former local government. It should also apply to any periods of service which are regarded as continuous service in the sector in Western Australia. Local Government Act 1995 provisions regarding maintenance of employment conditions also apply.
4.3. Employees who transfer to a new or adjusted local government should not generally be required to serve a probationary period or qualifying period of employment. The exception to this is where the employee is already serving a probationary period. This period would be completed in accordance with normal requirements.
5. Indicative Timelines At the time of preparing this checklist document, the following timelines had been indicated and are included to assist in preparing project plans where appropriate.
November 2013: Minister for Local Government & Communities submits proposals for 15 local governments in Perth metro area to the Local Government Advisory Board (LGAB);
November 2013 to 30 June 2014: LGAB to review all submissions made by local governments and by Minister for Local Government & Communities;
Post 1 July 2014: Minister for Local Government & Communities advises of acceptance/rejection of LGAB recommendations; Governors Orders to be issued for new local governments to commence on 1 July 2015;
1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015: Interim period (existing local governments remain in situ);
1 July 2015: New local governments commence 1 July to October 2015 local government elections: Implementation phase;
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6. Checklist
Task/Function Action
Apprenticeships and/or Traineeships
Audit trainee, apprentice or cadetship schemes and contracts with external providers (such as a Group Training Scheme).
Advise trainees, apprentices and cadets of the continuity of their programs as appropriate.
Casual and Temporary Employees
Identify casual and temporary employees, and the term of their contracts.
Establish redeployment policy and processes.
Establish new working arrangements.
Communication Maintain and update appropriate intranet (if available) or internet services, to inform staff.
Review, adjust and continue internal and external communication plans.
Create Focus Groups to determine effectiveness and issues.
Creation of Positions
Prepare position descriptions for all positions in final structure.
Undertake classifications where required.
Disability Employment
Review all employees who are identified as having a disability.
Identify employees who are employed on the basis of supported wages.
Identify and contact any/all agencies supporting employees with disabilities.
Employee Assistance
Identify all Employee Assistance Program support services and rationalise where appropriate.
Communicate approved EAP service providers to all employees.
Establish and train a peer support network with senior management access and support.
Establish and communicate professional employee counselling services.
Provide and communicate an employee question and answer forum and updates.
Employment Contracts
Collate and review terms of all individual employment contracts.
Identify deficiencies and negotiate individual contract amendments where necessary.
Identify contracts approaching end of term and negotiate extensions where necessary.
Review the impact of the Local Government Act 1995 restriction on ending employment contracts.
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Task/Function Action
Entitlements and Benefits
Identify entitlements and benefits requiring harmonisation.
Enterprise Agreements
Collate and review existing industrial agreements.
Assess the findings against industry-wide industrial Award(s) and national employment standards.
Review what constraints and opportunities there may be in developing future agreements.
Design strategy for future agreement development.
Grievance Management Policy and Procedures
Collate and review all existing Grievance policy statements and applicable procedures.
Develop and implement a single policy and procedures.
Establish where grievance officer training/retraining is required.
Induction / Orientation
Review existing induction programs.
Consider conducting induction/orientation program for all employees on ‘Day 1’ of the new entity.
Industrial Matters Establish if there are any industrial disputes in Commission/Court.
Establish whether any collective agreement negotiations are in progress.
Identify where industrial matters are in dispute/investigations/pending decisions.
Industrial Relations
Prepare and implement communication plan with unions and relevant employee /employer representative groups.
Internal Staff Communication
Prepare and implement internal communication plan.
Establish roles and responsibilities in communication.
Establish one communication protocol for amalgamating local governments.
Conduct baseline staff awareness, concerns and issues survey.
Establish communication channels.
Maintain and update appropriate intranet (if available) or internet services to keep staff informed.
Interaction and Team Building
Identify and arrange opportunities for engagement.
IT Systems Audit and review ICT systems associated with HR Services, including:
o Payroll
o HRMIS
o Appraisal System
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Task/Function Action
Job Security Communicate with employees regarding job security entitlements in accordance with the Local Government Act 1995 or contractual agreements.
Hold information and communication forums to answer questions, provide information and set consistent expectations.
Develop and implement a question and feedback loop for staff and promote its use.
Job Roles and Responsibilities
Review organisational chart(s).
Identify all roles and responsibilities and collate all available position descriptions.
Identify occupational licensing arrangements required for legislative compliance.
Review rosters for work groups.
Conduct an organisational capacity audit and establish a skills and knowledge register.
Labour Hire Identify all employees who are employed through employment agencies on a ‘labour hire’ basis.
Determine ongoing need for labour hire workers. Liaise with labour hire agencies to advise the requirement for their staff.
Letters of Appointment
Provide Letters of appointment for employees for the new Council.
Include details of position, remuneration, work location, supervisor etc (examples attached).
Negotiation of Entitlements and Benefits
Identify employee entitlements and benefits requiring harmonisation and renegotiation.
Collate and review the application of entitlements and benefits.
Establish policy and process for the negotiation of entitlements and benefits.
Occupational Health & Safety (OSH) systems
Identify and review all OSH systems.
Rationalise to one OSH system.
Organisational Structure
Review strategic plan, operational plan, service delivery system and resource distribution to identify human resources, skills and knowledge requirements and gaps.
Establish transitional organisational structure including clear reporting responsibilities for implementation on changeover day.
Identify permanent F/T, P/T positions and temporary F/T and P/T positions
Map positions against incumbents.
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Task/Function Action
Provide each employee with a letter outlining the arrangements to apply specifically to them on changeover day.
Outplacement Services
Identify the capability of Employee Assistance Program service providers to offer and undertake outplacement services to employees whose employment is ceasing; including:
o Career counselling;
o Resume preparation, job application and interview techniques;
o Financial advice; and
o Lifestyle/early retirement.
Overseas Workers Identify all overseas workers, their visa status and the term of their contracts.
Establish new working arrangements.
Undertake any requisite visa approval process with Dept. of Immigration & Border Control. Assistance available from WALGA (http://walga.asn.au/ProductsServices/RecruitmentServices.aspx)
Payroll Identify and evaluate payroll systems.
Determine capacity/capability/compatibility.
Performance Appraisals
Identify the process and system used for Council annual performance reviews.
Aggregate and diarise employees’ appraisals.
Personnel files Identify locations of all employees’ personnel files and records.
Merge records as appropriate.
Archive records as appropriate.
Redundancy – Redeployment
Identify available positions within the Local Government.
Assess employee knowledge, skills, abilities and cross reference with available positions.
Discuss potential redeployment options with employees.
Discuss alternatives to redeployment with employee e.g. redundancy.
Review of Positions
Review position descriptions for all positions in final structure following the completion of the allocation or recruitment process.
Team Building Develop and implement an organisational cultural development strategy.
Develop a team building process.
Commence integration of future teams as soon as practicable.
Maintain social engagement events and team building activities.
Use a tender process if external consultants are to be employed to support culture development.
Training Audit and consolidate training plans.
Review Training Needs Analysis (TNA) records.
Conduct corporate systems training for relevant employees.
Conduct organisational orientation sessions for all employees.
Volunteers Establish volunteer retention and deployment policy and methodology.
Document and articulate clear processes and planned timeframes to all volunteers.
Liaise with external volunteer organisations.
Voluntary Separations
Identify likely need for encouragement of voluntary separations.
Establish policy, process and timeframes for inviting and determining acceptable candidates for voluntary separations.
Implement process for inviting and determining voluntary separations.
Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation
Identify open or current claims with any of the affected Councils with LGIS and claims management team. Obtain relevant information including:
o Return to Work (RTW) programs including restricted duties or times;
o workplace adjustments for RTW (such as workplace modification or modification to duties);
o retraining/redeployment programmes; and
o total incapacity claims and their review dates.
determine insurance/premium status (e.g. performance v non-performance based)
Workplace Plan Collate and review all workforce plans.
Develop and implement new entity workforce plan (in conjunction with Corporate Services/Finance functions).
Workplace Health & Safety
LTI rate for each Council.
Determine risk profile for each Council.
Determine risk program for each Council.
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Letter of Appointment (example) New Local Government
Sample correspondence to each employee of a new local government (Excluding a short term casual or term contract employee)
Insert name and mailing address of existing local authority (existingCouncil) Insert date Insert name and address of employee transmitting to new local authority
Dear (employee’s name)
As you are aware, the State government has introduced boundary reforms and the creation of new local governments in Western Australia. I am writing to you to confirm the effect of this initiative, as it applies to your ongoing employment with (name of new Council) from changeover day, at which time (name of existing employing Council) ceases to exist.
This is a significant period of change and I wish to formally confirm the following:
You will continue to be employed as:(insert details of the employee’s position - type of employment - F/T, P/T etc, position title, wage/salary, level/ increment, hours of work, allowances, work location if relevant, requirement to travel – if applicable, overtime, on call etc.)
You will continue to report to (supervisor’s details -name, contact details)
Your rate of pay, entitlements, classification, level and increment are not affected by transmission to (name of new Council).
Your rate of pay (insert rate) will be your rate of pay at changeover day. The entitlements that apply to you, through your award and current enterprise bargaining/workplace agreement (insert reference to these industrial instruments where applicable) will continue to apply from changeover day;
Your recognised service with (name of current employing Council) is counted as service for all purposes with (name of new Council). Council records confirm that you have been engaged for a period (stipulate the years, months etc) at changeover day.
You have guaranteed security of employment, which is underwritten by statute until <DATE>, subject to any disciplinary proceedings which might exist, in which case appropriate disciplinary processes will apply.
As a condition of your employment, you are required to comply with Councils policies.
You will not be required to submit to a probationary period.
Note: insert the following for employees currently on a probationary period:
You will complete your probationary period in accordance with normal requirements with (name of new Council).
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Note: insert the following where appropriate - i.e. if applicable to the particular employee:I wish to confirm that your rights and any applicable processes under the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 continue to apply with (name new Council).
I wish to re-assure you that you will continue to be kept up-to-date with changes as they emerge after changeover day.
Should you have any concerns regarding your ongoing employment with (name new Council) or wish to discuss any of the issues regarding your employment, please feel free to contact (name contact) at any time. Equally, if you feel that you would like to discuss personal issues regarding your continued employment with (name Council) with someone external to the Council, please make contact with (name and details of EAP provider) who will be able to provide you with confidential advice and assistance.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your dedicated service to local government and look forward to your continued contribution, in serving the community from changeover day and beyond.
Sincerely
(Name of CEO and signature)
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Letter of Appointment (example) Adjusted Local Government
Sample correspondence to each employee of a new local government (Excluding a short term casual or term contract employee)
Insert name and mailing address of local authority (name of existing employing Council) Insert date Insert name and address of employee transferring to new local authority (adjusted local
government)
Dear (employee’s name)
As you are aware, the State government has introduced boundary reforms and the creation of new local governments in Western Australia. I am writing to you to confirm the effect of this initiative as it applies to your ongoing employment with (name of new Council) from changeover day.
This is a significant period of change and I wish to formally confirm the following:
You will continue to be employed as:(insert details of the employee’s position - type of employment - F/T, P/T etc, position title, wage/salary, level/ increment, hours of work, allowances, work location if relevant, requirement to travel – if applicable, overtime, on call etc.)
You will continue to report to (supervisor’s details -name, contact details)
Your rate of pay of pay, entitlements, classification, level and increment are not affected by transition to (name of new Council).
Your recognised service with (name of current employing Council) is counted as service, for all purposes with (name of new Council). Council records confirm that you have been engaged for a period (stipulate the years, months etc) at changeover day.
Please Note: In some cases, particularly with adjusted local governments, it will be necessary to detail what is different or changed from pre-changeover days, such as hours of work/roster, work team allocations, depot base/library location, uniforms, lunch room location or new entitlements (such as travel allowance).
Whilst there will not be a wholesale ‘spilling’ of positions, It may be possible that re-deployment will occur once the new organisational structure is confirmed by Council, in which case the Perth Metropolitan Local Government Workforce Transition Guidelines will apply.
You are required to comply with the policies of (name of adjusted local government).
You will continue be kept up-to-date with relevant information regarding employment-related issues and changes to Council operations.
You have guaranteed security of employment, which is underwritten by statute until <DATE>, unless, of course, you were subject to disciplinary proceedings, in which case appropriate disciplinary processes will apply.
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As a condition of your employment, you are required to comply with Council policies.You will not be required to submit to a probationary period.
Note: insert the following for employees currently on a probationary period:You will complete your probationary period in accordance with normal requirements.
Note: insert the following where appropriate - i.e. if applicable to the particular employee:
I wish to confirm that your rights and applicable processes under the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 will continue to apply with (name new Council).
Should you have any concerns regarding your ongoing employment with (name new Council) or wish to discuss any of the issues regarding your employment, please feel free to contact (name contact) at any time. Equally, if you feel that you would like to discuss personal issues regarding your continued employment with (name Council) with someone external to the Council, please make contact with (name and details of EAP provider) who will be able to provide you with confidential advice and assistance.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your dedicated service to local government and look forward to your continued contribution in serving the community from changeover day and beyond.
