The public service pay review is the first since 2012. Photo: File.
The ACT’s 23,000 public service staff face a shake-up of their pay and conditions with the government about to embark on a major review of the Territory’s classification structure, pay scales and position descriptions.
It could pave the way for a restructuring of the ACT Public Service (ACTPS), iron out pay anomalies and redefine roles.
The ACT Government wants to see how the ACT’s classifications and pay compare to other workplaces in the Territory and in other jurisdictions, what effects the current salary structure is having on internal staff mobility, career progression and specialisation, and what impact historical percentage-based increases have had on pay disparities.
A tender has been released for the work and according to the documents, the government also wants the work value and documentation of specific classifications evaluated, position descriptions examined, and the use of attraction and retention payments analysed.
The successful contractor must identify areas, or potential areas, of specialisation; look at where staff come from or go to; evaluate staff turnover and retention; and analyse career progression of past and present staff.
The work will also identify qualification and training requirements, and provide new work level standards that may lead to changes in the Public Sector Management Standards.
It will also investigate historical percentage-based pay increases, evaluate by how much pay levels vary within each classification, and calculate how much it would cost to redress the disparity.
A government spokesperson said the ACT Government committed to a review of public service pay scales in the recently concluded round of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
”The review provides an opportunity to ensure that the classification structure does not inhibit internal staff mobility, career progression and specialisation and to identify options for structuring the workforce based on this information,” the spokesperson said.
”A broad range of classifications have been identified for review, with the aim of determining whether disparity or anomalies exist. It is also an opportunity to assess the classification structures in the ACTPS against other labour markets to ensure the ACTPS remains an attractive employer.”
The last comprehensive service-wide review was conducted in 2012.
The new review comes after last year’s review of executive salaries that boosted the pay of ACT public service chiefs after finding that they were falling behind relative to other staff and that the ACT was less able to compete with the Australian Public Service.
It was the first comprehensive examination of the ACT Public Service Executive Remuneration since the establishment of the ACTPS 25 years ago, and highlighted the competitive executive labour market that the ACT is contending with.
The government expects the new review’s comparative work delivered by 29 January 2021, and the rest by 31 March 2021.
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