Professional Staff - Further Compensation
Claim
15. Access to further compensation in recognition of experience for Professional Staff at the top of their band.
Claim Detail
Background
It is noted that Professional Staff Workloads are currently contained in Clause 11 of the current Enterprise Agreement.
Currently where there is disagreement around workloads a staff member may firstly raise concerns with their supervisor, with escalation to the next level of management for review.
Professional staff workloads are also informed by the Management of Professional Staff Workloads Guideline which “suggests ways in which supervisors and professional employees can work together to actively manage workloads”.
The current clause and guidelines rely heavily on a successful relationship between an employee and supervisor for the proper management of workloads.
Concerns
A significant number of members have highlighted deep concerns about the allocation of workloads across professional staff, highlighting lack of consistency within and across particular work areas, difficulty in raising these issues with supervisors for effective resolution, and failure to fully account for workload implications through change processes and implementation.
Current Pulse results highlight poor results across staff stress levels (63%), workload expectations (66%), and balance between work and life commitments (66%); highlighting that workloads continue to present as significant concerns for staff.
With increasing evidence of workload creep and staff reporting they are feeling over worked and burnt out, there is a pressing need to rethink this clause to ensure all professional staff are fairly treated.
Proposed principles
A revised clause in the agreement should:
Introduce a robust review mechanism which includes the option for staff to seek review by a joint committee where they cannot find resolution with their supervisor
Inclusion in the enterprise agreement current principles articulated in the Guidelines elevating these from ‘suggestions’ to ‘expectations’ for workload. These should include requirements for open and transparent discussion and allocation of workloads across staff.
Introduce a mechanism for the establishment of a set of principles which should inform considerations of reasonable workloads for professional staff, such that there is progress towards shared and consistent models of workload allocations.
Establish an expectation for benchmarking of workloads both internally and externally across the different work profiles / families to establish a framework for workload expectations within particular work profiles / families.
Provide clarity of the various elements of work for which allocations should be made for staff, including noting, for example, requirements for time allocations for particular responsibilities (e.g. HSR roles), committee participation, and university service, governance and leadership.
Presented on 27/5/26
Management Response
The bargaining team presented this claim to management on 27/5/26. Management gave a simple ‘no’ answer. Management asked about the idea of review on entire HEW structure instead.