Skilled Trades Staff - Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (State) Award 2004

 

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES

 

Application by The Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care.

 

(No. IRC 84 of 2007)

 

 

VARIATION

 

1.          Insert in clause 1 Arrangement, of the award published 21 October 2005 (354 I.G. 538) the following new clause number and subject matter, and renumber existing clauses 13, 14, and 15 to read as 14, 15 and 16.

 

13.       Average Disability Allowance

 

2.          Delete clause 5, Classification Structure and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

5.  Classification Structure

 

(i)         Context:

 

Trades staff perform, both on a planned and emergency basis, a variety of manual and technical tasks related to preventative and corrective maintenance, the installation of plant and equipment and the renovation and construction of buildings.

 

Trades staff also ordinarily undertake work which is peripheral and incidental to their base trade so as to complete the whole job or so as to assist other staff complete the whole job.

 

This Classification structure is designed to reward trades staff who possess, and are required by the Region to regularly provide, skills/knowledge beyond their base trade obligations. It does not reward service alone nor additional skill/knowledge performed at less than a trades standard.

 

(ii)        Structure:

 

The following classification structure is to be applied from the first full pay period to commence on or after 13 February 2007.

 

Pay levels as a percentage of base pay rates are:

 

 

 

 

 

(iii)       Definitions of the Classification Levels are as follows:

 

(a)        Level 1 Tradesperson (Base Rate for relevant Trade).

Level 1 is applicable to a tradesperson who has completed an apprenticeship, licence or equivalent and is proficient in the contemporary skills required of a tradesperson in the relevant trade.

 

Tasks to be performed include those peripheral and incidental to completing the whole job and/or assisting other staff so as to complete the whole job. A tradesperson at this level may be required to supervise or train apprentices on the job.

 

(b)        Level 2 Tradesperson (105% of the Base Rate for the relevant Trade).

 

Level 2 is applicable to a tradesperson who satisfies the requirements of Level 1 and who is required by the employer to regularly utilise skills/knowledge, additional to that skill/knowledge associated with the individual’s base trade, which is gained from or deemed equivalent to that gained from completing 120 hours of learning within approved courses.

 

(c)        Level 3 Tradesperson (110% of the Base Rate for the relevant Trade).

 

Level 3 is applicable to a tradesperson who satisfies the requirements of Level 1 and who is required by the employer to regularly utilise skills/knowledge, additional to that skill/knowledge associated with the individual’s base trade, which is gained from or deemed equivalent to that gained from completing 240 hours of learning within approved courses.

 

(d)        Level 4 Tradesperson (115% of the Base Rate for the relevant Trade).

 

Level 4 is applicable to a tradesperson who satisfies the requirements of Level 1 and who is required by the employer to regularly utilise skills/knowledge, additional to that skill/knowledge associated with the individual’s base trade, which is gained from or deemed equivalent to that gained from completing 360 hours of learning within approved courses.

 

(e)        Charge Hand/Supervisor

 

A Charge Hand/Supervisor is a person appointed to a Charge Hand/Supervisor position by the Department. Charge Hand/Supervisor positions will be created at the discretion of the Department. A Charge Hand/Supervisor will be allocated ongoing responsibility for the activities of one trade and/or the supervision of one or more trades and its associated staff (including contractors) within the Region and/or all the trades activities and trades staff (including contractors) at a nominated location. A Charge Hand/Supervisor can be required to perform the duties of their trade/s at any time. A Charge Hand/Supervisor may also be nominated as Project Leader on any project in addition to their other responsibilities. The Region is to maintain an up-to-date Position Description for each of its Charge Hand/Supervisor positions.

 

(f)         Project Leader

 

A Project Leader is a person appointed to a Project Leader position by the Department. Project Leader positions will be created at the discretion of the Department. A Project Leader will be allocated responsibility for all aspects of a substantial refurbishment/construction project. The Project Leader will be able to supervise any staff/contractors working in connection with a project as necessary and will ensure compliance with all relevant specifications and requirements. A Project Leader can be required to perform the duties of their trade/s at any time. The duration of any Project Leader role will be limited to the life of the project. The Region is to provide the Project Leader with an up-to-date Position Description.

 

(iv)       Approved Courses:

 

For the purpose of this Clause, ‘Approved Courses’ are TAFE courses and any others that the Department approves. However an Approved Course must relate to the acquisition of new skills/knowledge by the individual, additional to the base trade, and not simply the modernisation or updating of current work practices or methods. Approved Courses will not include personal OH&S related courses, updated inventory or programmed maintenance systems courses, new computer software etc.

 

(v)        Deemed Credited with Approved Course or part thereof:

 

For Tradespersons who have not successfully completed an Approved Course; The Regional Director or nominee may deem the additional skills/knowledge required to be regularly utilised by a tradesperson to be equivalent to that acquired from successfully undertaking an Approved Course/s or from one or more identifiable modules of an Approved Course. Any such decision requires that the tradesperson in question be credited with hours equivalent to that of the relevant Approved Course/s or modules thereof for progression purposes.

 

(vi)       Regular:

 

‘Regular’ for the purposes of this Clause refers to duties/tasks occurring periodically, routinely or which are programmed. Project work and other work occurring randomly, sporadically or irregularly would not be ‘regular’. Where tasks are required to be performed irregularly but would, if they were regular, attract a higher classification level, then ‘Mixed Functions’ allowance should be paid to the higher classification level in accordance with the award. That is, when a Tradesperson is required to perform the additional work irregularly and is qualified to do so, he/she should be paid any applicable higher rate for the period of time the additional skills/knowledge is required to be performed or for the whole shift in accordance with the Mixed Functions Clause of the Crown Employees Skilled Trades Award.

 

(vii)      Trades Standard:

 

‘Trades Standard’ for the purposes of this Clause means a quality of work/knowledge equivalent to that reasonably required of a qualified tradesperson in the relevant trade.

 

(viii)     No Double Counting:

 

The performance of any function reasonably within the scope of employment classification, and/or additional skills performed at less than a trades standard and/or for which payment of an allowance or additional remuneration is already provided do not count for translation, appointment or progression purposes.

 

(ix)       The Department to Decide its Requirements:

 

The Department is to decide which and how many trades staff will be regularly required to use the additional skills/knowledge attracting higher rates of pay.  In reaching that decision the Department might consider;

 

- what number of staff are needed to utilise the additional skill/knowledge.

 

- whether a trades staff is already paid for numerous additional skills/knowledge, in which there may be limited opportunity to effectively utilise one more additional skill/knowledge.

 

- whether the work should be contracted out. Before deciding the work should be contracted out, the Region is to consider the skills/knowledge possessed by trades staff in addition to their base trades. To this end, a list of such additional skills/knowledge is to be maintained by the Region in a state of reasonable currency, subject to employee cooperation and assistance in compiling and maintaining that list.

 

(x)        Maintaining Standards:

 

Tradespersons at classification levels 2 ,3 and 4 are responsible for maintaining the additional skills/ knowledge to a standard equivalent to that of having successfully undertaken a current approved course/s (or in some cases, the modules thereof they were deemed credited with) in order to continue to be paid the higher classification level.

 

(xi)       Leading Hand Allowance:

 

Leading Hand Allowance will be paid to Tradespersons in the classifications Levels 1 to 4 inclusive who are required to supervise the work of contractors and/or staff; provided that for this purpose, apprentices will not be counted, each contractor supervised will be counted but any contractor’s staff will not.

 

(xii)      Translation:

 

Within 3 months of the commencement of this Clause, the relevant Regional Director or nominee will determine where each tradesperson should translate into the new classification structure.

 

This must be done firstly by determining which skills/knowledge, beyond classification level 1 skills/knowledge, are regularly required of the tradesperson and secondly, in relation to each of those, determining whether the relevant approved course has been successfully completed or, alternatively, determining whether the skills/knowledge possessed by the tradesperson is equivalent to skills/knowledge acquired from successfully undertaking the approved course or one or more modules thereof.

 

The performance of any function reasonably within the scope of employment classification, and/or additional skills performed at less than a trades standard and/or for which payment of an allowance or additional remuneration is already provided is to be discounted.

 

Where the tradesperson in question is translated to a higher classification in the new structure than his/her classification before the commencement of this Clause, the employee is to be paid the higher rate from the first full pay period to commence on or after the commencement of this Clause.

 

Where the tradesperson in question is translated to an equivalent or lower classification in the new structure than his/her classification before the commencement of this Clause, the employee is to be maintained in their current classification.

 

(xiii)     Appointment and Progression:

 

(a)        Appointment: Once appointed to a particular Level in this Classification Structure, a tradesperson may not have his/her Level reduced because the Region no longer requires the additional skills/knowledge warranting the higher Level to be regularly utilised. Accordingly appointments of trades staff should initially be made to the Level 1 position, or at least be carefully considered having regard to the foreseeable medium to longer term requirements of the appointment.

 

(b)        Progression: Consideration of progression to Classification Levels 2, 3 and 4 must always be based on a Departmental requirement to utilise the additional skills/knowledge at that time and into the foreseeable future and may not count skills/knowledge no longer regularly required by the Department to be utilised.

 

(xiv)     Training:

 

Trades staff are to meet the costs of training associated with the additional skills/knowledge referred to in this Clause and attend that training in their own time. Study Leave provisions apply. Where the Department directs the employee undertake training, any such training outside of paid work time will be paid for at the ordinary hourly base rate.

 

(xv)      Disputes:

 

The Issue Resolution procedures should be utilised if any disputes arise concerning implementation of this clause.

 

3.          Delete the figure ($5.80) in paragraph (a) of subclause (ii) of clause 12 Work at Alternative Worksite.

 

4.          Insert after clause 12, Work at Alternative Worksite, the following new clause:

 

13.  Average Disability Allowance

 

(i)         Many of the allowances within PART B - Rates of Wages and Allowances of this Award are disability allowances paid on a per occasion, per hour or daily basis depending upon the work performed.  The allowances in question relate to:

 

177 Welding

178 Bricklaying > 18 kg

179 confined spaces

180 height

181 hot places

182 insulation

183 asbestos eradication/airborne Lead

184 smoke boxes A

185 wet places

186 acid furnaces

187 smoke boxes B

188 clean down bricks

189 spray application

190 roof work

191 explosive power tools

193 dirty work

214 applying obnoxious substances

289 legionella

171 fouled equipment

176 pneumatic tool operation

152 chokages

 

(ii)        Some or all of these above allowances may be the subject of a mutual agreement between individual trades staff and the Region (in writing) to pay the individual an Average Disability Allowance (ADA) amount.  The process of reaching agreement involves:

 

- the staff member and Department agreeing on how many occasions each type of allowance would be claimed by the staff member on average per fortnight of work, then,

 

- Calculating the total dollar ($) value of all those allowances and dividing that amount by 10 to obtain an ADA amount, then,

 

- Recording the above information on a suitable information sheet and retaining it attached to a signed and dated agreement (and retaining both as for wages records).

 

(iii)       The agreed ADA amount is to be paid fortnightly with wages for each on-duty day within each pay period. A day of leave is not an on-duty day. For example, if the staff member takes four recreation leave days and works the other days in the fortnight, he/she would be paid the ADA amount x 6 in his/her pay.

 

(iv)       Where such an agreement is reached, the payment of the ADA in accordance with subclause (iii) to an individual will be in full satisfaction of any claims to the specified allowances that might be brought.

 

(v)        The ADA amount for each individual trades staff will be derived once per year and, for new employees, after three months of employment and annually thereafter.

 

(vi)       The ADA amount will be automatically increased under the agreement in the same percentage and with the same effective date as for increases to the corresponding Award disability allowances.

 

(vii)      Neither party should unreasonably refuse to agree on a fair ADA amount. Either party to the agreement can seek a review of the ADA amount in between annual reviews if there is a substantial change to the pattern of work of the staff member.

 

5.          Delete clause 15 Leave Reserved (renumbered from 14) and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

15.  Leave Reserved

 

Up to and including 30 June 2008, leave is reserved for any of the parties to make applications in respect of this Award in terms that have been agreed by all the parties to it only.

 

6.          Delete clause 16, No Extra Claims (renumbered from 15.) and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

16.  No Extra Claims

 

Up to and including 30 June 2008, no wages or other claims may be made, except where agreed by the parties.

 

7.          Delete Part B Rates of Wages and Allowances, and insert in lieu thereof the following:

 

PART B

 

RATE OF WAGES AND ALLOWANCES

 

 

 

 

8.          Delete the Memorandum of Understanding at Annexure 1.

 

9.          This variation shall take effect from the first full pay period to commence on or after 13 February 2007.

 

 

 

J. P. MURPHY, Commissioner.

 

 

____________________

 

 

Printed by the authority of the Industrial Registrar.