trixtah: (Default)
Trixtah ([personal profile] trixtah) wrote2006-08-10 10:11 pm
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Sundries

I know I'm spamming everyone's flist a lot this week. I should run my posting frequency through some kind of analysis, to see if it is hormones or phases-of-the-moon related. Or related to nothing at all.

In the good news department, my manager "had a chat" with me in his office today, and said they were prepared to offer me an AWA (Australian Workplace Agreement, their version of the lovely employment legislation NZ put in 10 years ago... as a result of which I was made "redundant") after my current contract runs out. Despite the major drawbacks of that kind of employment, it's a permanent role. Yay!

The reason this has come up is that we had a fairly major division meeting yesterday, and I piped up and bearded the senior manager who was presenting the grand scheme for the future. They were talking about maintaining staff continuity (and I know they were talking about replacing all the old-fogey aviation systems engineers who are retiring in droves), so I asked how they were planning to do that on the Infrastructure side when a large proportion of our key staff are contractors. *ahem*

I was working late last night, and that manager ambushed me (ulp!) and asked if I had an "agenda". I copped to the fact I think it's ludicrous that people in my kind of role - email isn't project work, most of the time - are contractors, and some of them have been there for years. Lo, in the fullness of time (this morning) one of my colleagues (who's only been there for 5 years) and I were offered the holy grail of permanency.

I now have to try and study up a bit on Australian employment law, which is no fun when it's all recently changed and there have been bugger-all precedents set. I'm comforted by the fact that the law says explicitly that an AWA is not permitted to put you at appreciable disadvantage compared to the relevant award. Not that the award is anything to write about either. Free gym tho'!

I've finally started cataloging stuff in LibraryThing. I've done about a quarter - I don't have that much room for stacks of books, alas. One motivator about getting a larger place is that I can buy more shelves.

And I've put up a couple of posts in [livejournal.com profile] dot_queer_snark, because I just can't help myself.

[identity profile] msss.livejournal.com 2006-08-10 12:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, yeah, I don't think the disadvantage test applies any more. Evil Howard and all.

Now there are, count them, five conditions that must be included. That's it.

Read VERY it carefully.
ext_8716: (Default)

[identity profile] trixtah.livejournal.com 2006-08-10 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, how marvellous. So the guidelines on the page I read at the DEWR site are out of date. How happy am I?

That's it, there must be lawyers around specialising in this kind of thing for individual clients by now, I hope? Because I'm going to retain one. I am so not going to be screwed over again in this situation.

[identity profile] msss.livejournal.com 2006-08-10 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
There are such lawyers, indeed. I should point out I have only a vague recollection of the new evilness, since I'm not an employment lawyer and we're not affected directly for another 3 years or so.

That said, if you want to discuss any particularly dodgy sounding terms, feel free to give me a buzz.

[identity profile] saluqi.livejournal.com 2006-08-10 12:41 pm (UTC)(link)
The main thing with an AWA is not to sign on the spot. [livejournal.com profile] msss is right, they can disadvantage you now if they want. OTOH, given the skills shortage in Canberra you have leverage.

You probably don't need a lawyer tho'. If you let Niv and I take a look at what they offer you, we can probably give you a reasonable view on whether it's OK. I'll dig my AWA out in the meantime.

[identity profile] buddleia.livejournal.com 2006-08-10 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like good news, legal caveats aside. Good for you. Agenda my arse.