The real cost of soldiering on...

Management pressure on employees to 'soldier on' at work when they are unwell is costing the Australian economy almost four times as much as absenteeism, according to a recent survey.

The report commissioned by Medibank Private, claims that 'presenteeism' - the lost of productivity that occurs when employees attend work while not fully functioning -is contributing to a $25 billion dollar black hole in lost productivity every year.

The health insurer estimates the annual cost to the economy of 'soldiering on' is almost four times that of absenteeism, only $7 billion by comparison.

Read more here and leave a comment below.

Crossing the line

The removal of journey claims from workers compensation rules is fuelling confusion in public service ranks with employees and managers unsure exactly where coverage begins and ends.

A recent case in Victoria exposed one of the 'grey areas' created by the Governments recent cuts to the compensation scheme for Australian public servants.

Read more here and post your thoughts below.

TRENT SMITH'S WITCH-HUNT

After being the subject of an extraordinary political 'witch-hunt', CPSU member Trent Smith is at the centre of an explosive legal battle set to test the limits of the Public Service 'Code of Conduct'.
Trent Smith was dismissed from his Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) job last July after being accused of acting politically when he advised an Opposition staffer to check the Hansard record of Parliamentary proceedings and other public sources of information.

The case has taken 4½ years and involved DFAT trawling through 8000 emails and spending a million dollars of tax-payers' money.

Learn more here and post a comment below. Check out recent media reports here.

DFAT-sacking-a-gross-overreaction
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Govt should drop witch-hunt and reinstate Trent Smith now (CPSU media release)
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Govt witness contradicts himself at unfair dismissal hearing
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Key Govt witness admits being mystery source
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Working round the clock

As the Howard Government seeks to soothe unease about its workplace laws, a Bureau of Statistics survey reveals the deep incursion work has already made into family and community life.

The figures show 37 per cent of employees work overtime or extra hours - and about half of them do so for no extra pay. Three in five said they had no say about when they started or finished.

Download the ABS report here and please post a comment.

‘Our employees voluntarily choose AWAs' - Trujillo

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo appeared on CNBC Asia this week to talk about various issues to do with the company. Of particular interest to CPSU members was what Mr Trujillo had to say about Telstra AWAs.

Sol Trujillo: 'Our employees enter into these agreements voluntarily'
Not surprisingly, he's all for them and reckons everyone on one is too. "Our employees choose to enter into these agreements and they do it voluntarily," Mr Trujillo said.

So, has Mr Trujillo got it right? Do you like your AWA? Post your comments below

Read the interview with Sol here.

Tripped up by new compo rules

Twelve hours after new workers comp rules came into effect, an accident on the way to work sent one public service manager sprawling.

With the new laws, introduced by the Howard Government, public servants are no longer covered for accidents and injuries sustained traveling to and from work and during lunch breaks spent away from the workplace.

To read Annette's* story click here.

To read previous blog posts and comments on the new compo laws, click here, here, and here.

What do you think about the changes to compo laws? Post your comments below.

Flashy ads for Join2Win

As part of our new Your Rights at Work campaign initiative - Join2Win - we have created 2 'flash' promos designed to highlight the benefits of CPSU membership. Join2Win is about encouraging CPSU members to talk with their workmates about joining the union, and voting for their rights at work.

Find out more about the Join2Win campaign by clicking here.
Watch the Flash ads clicking here and here.
What do you think of the ads? Post your comments below.

Behind the Bastard Boys

The 1998 waterfront dispute was brought vividly to life this week in the ABC's Bastard Boys telemovie. Nine years ago a stevedoring company tried to sack its 1,400 employees and the ensuing battle between Patrick Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia has gone down in history as one of Australia's most important industrial and political events.

To read an opinion piece by Josh Bornstein (a lawyer who played a key role in winning the dispute) click here.

What did you think of the ABC's portrayal of the dispute? Post your comments below.

Will Labor fix the compo crisis?

With resentment growing over the Government's removal of PS compensation rights including 'journey' coverage, the ALP has announced it would - if elected - reintroduce some form of income protection for public sector employees who are injured travelling to and from work.

There is growing resentment in the public sector about new Government legislation which removes the right to claim workers' compensation for injuries sustained travelling to and from work; during lunch and other breaks. The new laws also make it much harder for workers with stress-related injuries to get the support they need.

However at ALP National Conference last weekend, a motion was passed to reintroduce income protection for public sector employees who are injured travelling to and from work or during breaks. "...Labor will reintroduce income protection by amending the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act for the purposes of employees who are injured travelling to and from work and during breaks in working hours..."

The ALP announcement is a step in the right direction, but we need push the Opposition harder on the fine details. This is a very complex matter and the devil will be in the detail. We are urging members to send an online message of encouragement to the ALP.

Keeping the Pressure on the Govt too! As well as encouraging the ALP to do the right thing, CPSU members are also urged to contact the Liberal and National MPs and Senators who supported the unfair changes to let them know how you feel. Follow this link to find contact details for your local Liberal / National MPs and Senators.

Read a passionate letter from a Defence worker to his local member.

Howard's new fairness test falls well short

The Government is just tinkering around the edges of WorkChoices with the announcement of a 'fairness test' for AWAs. What's needed is a meaningful, legislated guarantee that would ensure no workers would be worse off by signing an AWA, compared to their Award or Collective Agreement.

If the Government is fair-dinkum about a 'fairness test' they should legislate for a meaningful test, rather than the half-measures announced today.

The new fairness test only applies to the nine 'protected' award conditions. This means important employment conditions outside the nine - such as redundancy entitlements / family friendly arrangments - will still be under threat from AWAs.

Download Government media release and full document.

Read media reports: Hockey denies public pressure led to WorkChoices scale back ABC online IR backflip is 'desperate', says Labor The Age online

What do you think? Please leave a comment.