The Enforcers are not a secret group of heroes. The Enforcers are all staff at Westpac, working together to protect our working rights. Knowing the rights that we have won previously, and working together are our two secret weapons.
All Finsec members at Westpac have basic rights to the proper pay, fair working hours and payment for overtime, having our tea breaks and adequate sick leave and annual leave when we need it, adequate staff levels, and a healthy and safe working environment free from bullying.
If you think your team is missing any of these things, join the campaign to enforce our rights.
Knowing Our Rights
Resources
9 Nov - The Enforcer News - or you can download it here (
pdf file 736kb)
Download The Enforcers poster for your worksite (pdf file 583kb)
Download the Enforcement Campaign Kit for your worksite (largepdf file 1000kb) or read the Campaign Kit on lline
We believe that part time staff at Phone Assist are not being paid the right hourly rate. Because of the gradual reduction in hours to 37.5 hours a week won by Finsec members a couple of years ago the hourly rate for full time staff has gone up but part time staff receiving the same annual pay still have their hourly rate worked out on a 40 hour week. This means part time staff are being underpaid.
Overtime and Breaks
(Download Overtime and Breaks Flyer - pdf file 515kb)
We have the right to receive overtime payments if we work excess hours - this is not a matter for management discretion. If we have to work excess hours to complete work we are directed to do, then we are entitled to overtime payment.
Clauses 7 and 9 of the collective agreements say we have the right to be paid overtime for working more than 37.5 hours per week, or 7.5 hours per day.* When we work above these hours we should either be paid at time and a half or double time depending on the circumstances.
Breaks are an important part of our work-life balance and a clear right in our Collective Agreement. Break times are to be mutually agreed with management and there needs to be some flexibility, but they are not negotiable - everyone is entitled to take them.
Clause 8 of our collective agreement says if we work more than 2 hours we are entitled to one paid 10 minute tea break. If we work more than 4 hours we are entitled to two paid 10 minute breaks. If we work more than 5 hours we are entitled to 2 10 minute paid tea breaks and an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes. Its time to start taking our breaks!
*separate provisions apply for Phone Assist and staff employed in business units listed in schedules to the collective agreement
Health and Safety
(Download Health and Safety Flyer - pdf file 512kb)
The Health and Safety in Employment Act requires Westpac to take all practical steps to ensure that we have a safe and healthy workplace.
The bank must:
- Have an effective system to Identify hazards
- Take all practical steps to Eliminate hazards
- Where elimination is impossible, Isolate the hazard
- Where elimination and isolation are impossible, Minimise the hazard and Protect us.
- Ensure we are adequately trained and supervised for the work we are doing.
- Provide us all with ready access to information on identified hazards, and steps to be taken.
- Provide reasonable opportunity for us to participate effectively to improve workplace health and safety.
Some of the health and safety hazards that the bank must address if we inform it of them include bullying, workplace stress, OOS (occupational overuse syndrome) and VDU use.
Clause 44 of the collective agreement says we will not be required to operate a keyboard for more than 50 minutes continuously without a break of at least 10 minutes for the purpose of performing other non-keyboard duties.
Leave
(Download Leave Flyer - pdf file 520kb)
We are entitled to take paid leave when we are sick, suffer a bereavement or to take a holiday.
Clause 30 of our collective agreement says we have the right to 10 days of paid sick leave per year, accumulating to up to 75 days. If we have used this up we can apply for an additional 5 days, agreement to which cannot be unreasonably withheld.
10 days of sick leave per year can be used for compassionate leave if there is illness in the immediate family, or a personal emergency of some kind.
Clause 31 of the collective agreement says we have the right to take up to 10 days bereavement leave on the death of a partner, parent or child, and up to three days on the death of another close relative. We are entitled to at least one day, and possibly up to three on the death of someone else of close association.
Our rights to annual leave are covered in Clause 26 of our collective agreement and the Holidays Act. We are entitled to 4 weeks annual leave per year, and some people are entitled to an additional 2 days Bank Holiday Leave. By law we must be allowed to take at least one period of two weeks annual leave. Leave must be taken at a time that is agreed between the bank and you but the bank cannot unreasonably withhold its agreement.
Staffing
(Download Staffing Flyer - pdf file 514kb)
We all have a legal and moral right to safe and healthy workplaces. The Health and Safety in Employment Act means that Westpac must ensure that all practicable steps are taken to prevent harm occurring to employees, including physical or mental harm caused by work-related stress.
Under staffing can cause stress in the workplace so staffing levels must be adequate to ensure that work related stress does not harm us.
Relief staffing when required
Our right to safe staffing levels doesn’t disappear just because someone is away. Employers are still required to take all practicable steps to ensure that safe staffing levels are in place.
This means that when other staff are away on leave, whether planned or unplanned, the bank must take steps to seek relief staffing.
Adequate staffing benefit both workers and customers by minimising work related stress and improving customer satisfaction.
Union Rights
(Download Union Rights Flyer - pdf file 520kb)
As Finsec union members we have the following range of legal rights to ensure that we are treated with respect:
- The right to join a union and not be discriminated against for that decision
- The right to recruit new members to the union
- The right to talk to our colleagues and our delegate about the union or work related issues
- The right to represent our union. The bank cannot choose some delegates to work with and ignore others.
- The right to attend paid union education courses (as long as 14 days notice is given)
- The right for our Finsec representatives to come to our worksites to talk about workplace issues, discuss union business, or promote the union. Managers cannot just pick and choose when this happens
- The right to have a delegate or union representative at disciplinary meetings
- The right to attend 2 two hour paid union meetings a year
- The right to be consulted if the bank is looking to make changes that affect our jobs
Fully using all the rights we have as union members will help us grow stronger as a group and increase our ability to get a fair deal from the bank.
