USU nib Enterprise Agreement Update 2

Recently the USU called for members to finalise their claims for the Enterprise Agreement.

USU Bargaining Representatives along with the nib Employee Representatives tabled a combined log of claims (below) to Management for consideration. All of the interests tabled came from you as union members who responded to our surveys and to Courtney Lowe your USU Bargaining Representative as well as from your fellow co-workers who tabled their interests to the Employee Representatives.

The Log of Claims fell into a number of categories that were either Salary related, related to Working from Home, Hours of Work and Flexibility related, and related to Training Skills and Development.

Similarly, management’s claims were related to a requirement for more flexibility and the ability to train employees to cross skill.

The USU believes that this will present us with an opportunity to negotiate an agreement which will allow members to be able to have more flexibility with their working hours and be able to be recognised for additional skills they have. We will also be exploring the issues around working from home that some people are experiencing to be able to better assist you to make your day at work more comfortable for you.

The Employee Representatives and Management have met for a number of weeks now to understand the log of claims and now both parties will begin the task of breaking down the interests that have been presented. In the coming weeks both the Union and the Bargaining Committee will be reporting back to you on how the negotiations are going.

If you have any questions regarding the EA negotiations, please contact your Union representative Courtney Lowe at C.Lowe@nib.com.au or your Union Official Melissa Pond at mpond@usu.org.au

If you are not a union member and wish to join, you can do so by visiting our website: www.usu.org.au/join

nib Enterprise Agreement Log of Claims 2021

1. Salary Increase to bring employees back up to being in line with costs of living.
2. Fortnightly Pay Bring IVCC in line with pay cycle of EA employees. Currently being paid monthly.
3. Salary Banding

• Employee skills increasing and new tasks being added which are not included in the band
• Merge of departments bringing in employees who have not previously been included in the band structure
• Issues associated with skills i.e. retention team and sales team requiring similar skills yet sales not able to be properly recognised.
• Issues with employees required to cross skill which is not recognised in the band structure
• Employees not having opportunities to move across departments and maintain pay rates due to bands. I.e. retail moving to contact centre.
• Union raised the possibility of having one classification structure that encompasses all skills to be able to allow employees and management to flexibility of moving across departments which would also enable employees the ability to have a career path within nib.
• STII’s and incentives – need to be reviewed in line with changes due to working from home and logistics issues associated with this. Review STI’s against other organisations to ensure correct parity. Ensure that IVCC STI incentives do not decrease so they are better off overall.

4. Work From Home

• Ergonomics allowance for employees to be able to maintain comfort whilst working from home i.e. a new chair, lamp etc.
• Tools of trade are nib’s responsibility and should not be at a cost to the employee. The employee should be provided with all of the necessary equipment and have it maintain by nib at nib’s expense to be able to fully carry out the customer service role at the service level expected by nib. i.e. computer, monitors, headsets etc.
• The following are issues raised by employees not necessarily EA issues but need to be addressed;
  • Lack of support from Team Leader – over time the check in support from Team Leaders has slipped which is leaving some employees feeling like they are missing out on support and encouragement. This is a health and wellbeing issue which needs to be addressed.
  • Service issues – employees reporting a significant number of logistics issues on the system which is impacting customer service and in turn KPI’s. A number of these issues were canvassed at the EA meeting on the 17^th December 2020.
• Mental Health and Resilience
  • Employees have raised issues with the changes in customer service around customer experience resulting in certain employees having to complete the same repetitive role over the day. This impacts employees who are working from home due to isolation and employees are seeking a variety of tasks over the shift to break the monotony.
  • Employees have raised issues around lack of support examples such as no Team Huddles, no contact for teams regarding any day to day changes i.e. sick leave, annual leave, updates, etc.
  • There are issues where employees have to notify exceptions – the system is very specific with required wording and there is no ability to check the information before submitting (i.e. a final brief showing what input has been submitted much the same as an online credit card details that allow for the employee to make any necessary changes before submission).
  • No feedback being given to employee on individual or team results leaving employees to wonder how they or their team are going.
  • Issues regarding lack of support for interruptions to work such as internet problems etc. No back up plans, no contact person etc.

5. Flexibility

• Definition of where home exists;
  • Flexibility of where I can work? i.e. if I go to stay with a relative or kids on school holidays somewhere and I don’t have enough leave, can I work from where I am?
  • Can I work in the office fulltime or part time?
  • What happens if I move away, can I still work for nib remotely?
• 4 day working week? Employees have canvasses the option of a 4 day working week or something similar such as a 9 day fortnight.
• Shifts times – with the combining of teams, some employees have raised concerns regarding the shift starting and finishing times of the Contact Centre and a significant number existing contact centre employees have raised concerns over the lack of flexibility with the starting and finishing times of the contact centre. All employees requesting a review of the hours to allow for flexibility and to review what the requirements of the shift times are for varying roles across the service department.
• Travel Allowance – with the closure of the Gosford Office and the opening of a satellite office in Wyong, many central coast employees’ roles are now permanently based in their homes. Employees requiring training and support will therefore more than likely have to travel to Newcastle for this.  Employees require a travel allowance to compensate their travel to and from Newcastle.
• 6 minutes a day – not being consistently applied and this also affects the 15minutes when overtime kicks in. Does it apply from end of shift or end of 6 minutes past shift?  Can the 6 minutes be used at start of shift to allow for set up and be ready to take calls at commencement of shift? Can a review of shift hours take the 6 minutes into account?
• Access to AL and or Long service leave – many employees have reported that they cannot get access to leave when they want to take it. This needs reviewing to ensure fairness for all employees.

6. Dispute Resolution Procedure – Requires review to ensure that it encompasses any dispute involving Flexible working Arrangements. Currently the DSP does not allow the Fair Work Commission to be able to make a decision around any dispute concerning this which is unfair for an affected employee and leaves a dispute hanging which is not good for anyone.  The DSP must allow for this in accordance with the Fair Work Act and the USU will table a draft clause for consideration. Recent changes to the act allow for the Commission to conciliate but the union wants them to be able to arbitrate as well which would make the decision binding on both parties and end the dispute.
7. Training Skills and Support

• Review the on-boarding process for new employees and employees transferring between departments with regards to support and time required for employees who conduct the training. Reports are that given the training is being conducted remotely, this is presenting complications for employees who conduct the training due to technical issues, internets issues etc.  This increases the time required that would normally have been done in the workplace.
• Review of training skills and support for employees to maintain skills required and update skills. Suggestions would be to review employee training requirements 6 to 12 monthly as part of employee review and training plans for Teams where cross skilling is required.
• Review on opportunities for advancement – employees are looking towards career pathways and wish to review how a career pathway can be formed and how it can be implemented across NIB. (Skill’s requirements, training, secondments etc.).
• The availability of Flexible working Arrangement for Study.