26 March 2009

APS agencies planning to compensate executives while squeezing the lower echelons ...

| I-filed
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Far from inflicting low pay rises on the middle management level, several APS agencies coming up to the end of the certified agreements have plans to give massive rises to EL1s – while telling the rank & file that they can’t have even a 2 per cent pay rise without “efficiency dividends”. This is because of the “issue” of EL1s coming off generous AWAs.

Some agencies are also planning to put their EL1s – already paid $95,000 via the certified agreement – on FLEXTIME. The EL levels have always been employed on the basis that they get the job done, and can have a day off in lieu if they have done a thunking job and tired themselves out a little. On flex, they’ll be able to down tools after 7 hours 21 and chalk up a day off a fortnight on a mere 8 hour day.

Now, why can’t EL1s simply decide whether they’d rather cosy up under the APS umbrella on 15 per cent super, under the CA, or go out and compete in the commercial marketplace if they’d like to earn their AWA-equivalent salary?

Could this be labelled a de facto continuation of AWAs for the self-serving APS only?

Lindsay Tanner – what do you have to say to the populace at large who are losing their jobs, about APS plans for a 10 to 15 per cent pay rise in the next year or two for the large contingent of EL1s in the Service?

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As an ex-El 1 of several years standing I much preferred the freedom I had at the EL than as an APS officer, even on flex. As for the sweeping generalisations being made on staff skills and abilities across the APS, I found some people were very good at their jobs others were very bad and overpromoted. My last task in DMO was sacking two APS level staff who couldn’t do the basic tasks their job required. There were others we were bringing into the area who were better skilled for these roles.

Having left the APS three years ago to become a specialist contractor I find both Private and Publc sectors have their benefits. I can now work from home whenever I wish and have better ability to negotiate my employment conditions. In the APS I had free access to free University study. People just need to work out what they really want to do rather than just ‘falling’ into career paths, which seems to happen a lot in the APS.

Thanks to 11 years of empowerment, contracting-out, outsourcing and self-serving promotion by over financed senior management expedients, the APS is now really a public circus. Ricipients of favoured treatment – the crawlers who’ve grovelled and scored get out fast promotions to AG’s, Geoscience and the hapless A.C.T. Govt from under talented Federal feral agencies. Boil down the APS, start again and offer up to Australian tax payers a decent platform of public service(s).

Thanks to 11 years of empowerment, contracting-out, outsourcing and self-serving promotion by over financed senior management twits, the APS is a fundamental joke; ricipients of favoured treatment – the likes who’ve grovelled and scored get out quick promotions to AG’s, Geoscience & the hapless A.C.T. Govt from equally hapless Federal feral agencies. Boil down the APS, start again & give the Australian Public Service(s) a decent platform of public service(s).

So even legal officer EL1s don’t get 105k.

Standard EL1s get under 95k at top increment (long serving).

Defence actually publish their salary chart, if you want to check the claims-and-counter-claims.

Defence EL1s get nothing like 105k.
Possibly the specialist streams like legal, medical and pr could.
But calling them EL1s is a bit disingenuous.

As Utah said not all EL1’s are management and even if they were then why should they too not be entitled to flex pay? Their base pay is not much higher than the APS rated staff and they get no other extra benifits. Me thinks the orginal poster is mixing EL’s up with SES.

SkipDaRoo said :

Defence, PM&C , Treasury to name a few. I think Immigration has joined the higher paying agencies and it is by no means considered a top tier department.

Nope – how can one suggest that Immigration is not a top tier department yet is a higher-paying agency? Either the comment is a mistake and/or you are suggesting Immigration doesn’t deserve what they get. Given their publicly available Collective Agreement, I believe it’s the former…

You need to remember that some of those high-earning EL1s will have specialist skills, like Law or IT. The Public Service is going to be competing with private industry to hire them; it either needs to offer them a sweet deal as permanents, or hire them on a higher rate as contractors, or do without their skills. Plus, in the case of IT, a lot of the work needs to be done out of hours; if you need to shut down the network for an eight-hour maintenance window, you can’t do it during the business day. You either pay the staff involved overtime, offer them usable time-in-lieu, or again pay contractors.

Precisely.
Not only do EL1s *not* get anything like 95k, they can easily earn far more in the private sector anyway. (The ones that actually work, that is).

careful here, many agencies have EL1s bands at 87,93,98 and 105k. with the top two being performanced based.

Defence, PM&C , Treasury to name a few. I think Immigration has joined the higher paying agencies and it is by no means considered a top tier department.

All of our section left work at 5pm on dot minus 3 people, who worked till 6:45.
2 EL1’s and an EL2 , so OP get a clue and go back and appeal your obvious failure to get promoted to EL1.

Madame Workalot said :

Nice trolling, realityskin 🙂

Serious 🙂 kinda … i fake my timesheet to show 37.5 !

Professional levels are not really EL1s as such. And this is only one agency – my agency isn’t doing this – EL1s are on the same agreement and pay increase as everyone else where I work.

bloodnut said :

S4anta said :

Loose Brown said :

Every EL I know works like a dog.

Welcome to the joy of low level managlement ladies.

Edit for spelling and relevance.

A true I-filed old fashioned pot-stirring post.

I’d lodge my resume tommorrow if such a fanciful department existed where management were GIVING AWAY conditions.

Come with the goods or go away I-f***** – your fairytales amuse me.

I have it straight from a manager who sits at the senior table in a prominent agency. Confirmed by the union rep in same agency. And a large contingent of fed EL1s are indeed paid $95,000 top increment. My point is, regardless of whether it’s $95 (one of the professional bands) or $89,000, or $85,000, the junior staff on $50-75,000 are on notice that they will be on a tough 2% offer, while the execs are looked after despite the GFC.
Sounding like a host of self-serving EL1s responding, very happy with the situation outlined and not giving a rat’s ***** about more junior staff!

Realityskin – sounds like anything above 0 hours goes towards your flex. Ever thought about not even turning up for work – I’m sure no-one would miss you. You never know, you might still score a pay every fortnight.

Madame Workalot4:27 pm 26 Mar 09

Nice trolling, realityskin 🙂

OT – I just got a message from WordPress telling me I was posting comments too quickly! I guess it’s the internet’s way of telling me to think before speaking…

35 = 7 hours a day = full time !

Oh, I just take a flex day every fortnight for the sake of it.

Realityskin, how can you get flex when you only do 35 hour weeks? This may come as some surprise but flex is hours your have worked over and above 37.5. Also you are supposed to work at least 37.5 hrs per week so those extra 9 minutes goes towards the break between Xmas and New Year. No wonder public servants get such a bad reputation.

realityskin said :

I get more than 96k, work 35 hour weeks AND GET FLEX.

Not being in the public service, I don’t know all the jargon. But does 35 hour week mean you are part time?

I’m a full time top increment EL1 and I get more than 96k, work 35 hour weeks AND GET FLEX.

OP said:

Some agencies are also planning to put their EL1s – already paid $95,000 via the certified agreement – on FLEXTIME

I’m a full time top increment EL1 and I get less than 90k, work 40-45 hour weeks (plus at least 8 hours per week at home) and have NEVER had a day in lieu. So **** off.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

In my last role we recruited an EL1 and cheerfully paid him about $40k per year more than he was getting, bringing him into line with similarly skilled staff.

Precisely.
Not only do EL1s *not* get anything like 95k, they can easily earn far more in the private sector anyway. (The ones that actually work, that is).

Maybe people should do a bit of research before writing silly articles like this one.
A quick look at APS jobs shows the following EL1 positions:

Regional Manager – $65,165 to $82,105
Aboriginal Hostels Limited

IT Specialist – Workstations, Hardware & Infrastructure, – $77,686 to $87,386
Austrade

Senior HR Adviser – $77,686 to $87,386
Austrade

Web Manager – $78,903 to $87,525
Australian Antarctic Division

Assistant Directors – $79,277 to $87,204
Australian Bureau of Statistics

Team Leader – Telephony Network Support – $76,282 to $82,378
Centrelink

Senior Policy Analyst – $82,565 to $90,310
Australian Communications and Media Authority

Lawyer – $82,172 to $88,729
Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Senior Data Analyst – $77,711 to $88,582
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Project Manager/Analyst – $64,924 to $88,582
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Assistant Director Learning and Development – $80,697 to $90,938
Australian Electoral Commission

Business Manager – $76,080 to $82,447
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority

Senior Professional Officer Grade C – $80,569 to $87,000
Bureau of Meteorology

etc…

Oh please!! I worked in a Govt dept in Belco and there is a lot of dead wood and most are at levels WAY beyond their capabilities. I feel sorry for the contractors that have been targeted by Gershon – at least the contractors can actually do the job! It’s laughable to see the floundering permanent staff that have been sitting on their arses for the last 3 years panicking that they may have to work when these contractors go.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy1:59 pm 26 Mar 09

Don’t forget that El1/2 is prime hunting ground for private sector organisations in Canberra. In my last role we recruited an EL1 and cheerfully paid him about $40k per year more than he was getting, bringing him into line with similarly skilled staff. We then sold him back to his old agency on a time and materials basis to help out.

The govt needs to be a fairly careful in this space – the public service is subject to brain drain already, they shouldn’t be making it easier for the private sector to nick whomever they choose.

S4anta said :

Loose Brown said :

Every EL I know works like a dog.

Welcome to the joy of low level managlement ladies.

Edit for spelling and relevance.

A true I-filed old fashioned pot-stirring post.

I’d lodge my resume tommorrow if such a fanciful department existed where management were GIVING AWAY conditions.

Come with the goods or go away I-f***** – your fairytales amuse me.

I suspected you were, but thought I’d be anal : – )

Finance, Treasury, DFAT, AGs all in the top pay scale. EL1.4 is touching 100K

There is a section within Treasury that has an EL1 starting pay point 100k+ !

Not all DEWR people were on AWAs, some held out but there certainly was pressure for everyone to be on one.

DEEWA wa the dept who put everyone on AWAs – maybe it’s them who now has to pay up to get people off them?
ps – EL1s don’t work that hard at my dept (not all of them anyway). But they pay is low, and the work is boring, and the respect is non-existant.

god where are these agencies which pay el1s that well? $95k?! i am obviously (more so than i already thought!) working in the wrong place.

Loose Brown said :

Every EL I know works like a dog.

Welcome to the joy of low level managlement ladies.

10 – 15% payrise over two years? You have got to be joking.

What a load of rubbish.

Every EL I know works like a dog. Even if flex is available no-one takes it – it just means more work to catch up on when you get back.

like anyone actually manages to use the days in lieu.

You work a sixteen day fortnight and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in the shite
Saint Secretary don’t ya call me cause I can’t go
I sold my soul for a day in lieu….

Nothing like my dept either.

EL1s still have flex where i am, and have little management responsibility, and also earn a lot less than 95 thou.

In my last tiny dept EL1s were nearly the top of the tree, had no flex and did long hours, and still got low pay – the lowest in the aps i think – i’m working in the wrong places.

I like it 😀

Where are these agencies exactly and do they have any vacancies? Because you sure as heck aren’t describing my department!

Yes, I would say that most EL 1s and 2s I have observed would be working a heck of a lot more hours than their standard day. In fact, introducing flex would get messy, as they’d be racking up too many hours per pay period. They’d be better off doing something like an ADO per month, it’d be less messy, and most of them would be working up way more than 8 hours a month.

I think it depends which agency you work in – in my department APS 6 earn almost as much as the EL1’s and retain flex. I’m currently an acting EL2 and ‘donate’ the equivalent of 4-5 days per fortnight to the Department in extra hours worked. I don’t think the few hundred bucks a fortnight is adequate compensation for working what amounts to an extra week every fortnight… just my two cents

I would be interested to know which agencies I-Filed is referring to here. Admittedly I only work part time and am not an EL1, but I haven’t heard this come up in our CA negotiations. People of all levels have had their AWAs bought out. Again, I wasn’t on one so am unaware of the terms.

It’s not all beer and skittles for EL1s everywhere – the ones at the ABS have to be worried about their jobs at the moment.

You would think that they’d do a basic comparo of cost/benefit for the level. Is this right across the APS? Given that with the proliferation of AWAs, everyone was on different rates and entitlements.

The Flex thing will be interesting. Remember, not all departments kept it. Finance, for instance, traded away flex and overtime for higher rates of pay across the board. I wonder what they’re going to do about that one?

Sad post. Obviously I-Filed has little experience of EL1s or only a very shallow understanding of how much most executive workers work.

Don’t begrudge the person who can work the system, it is the systems fault that allows it.

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