The ACT Government is offering public servants a one-off bonus. Photo: Region.
The ACT Government has offered its public sector workforce a $1250 one-off bonus payment to kick-start a new enterprise agreement.
It is not an offer to be added to the annual salary of employees.
The payment, officially offered in recognition of the rising cost of living, is a sweetener for employees to accept the Government’s revised three-year offer to replace all other four-year offers.
Negotiations have been underway since May last year.
The new offer provides for both percentage increases and fixed-dollar increases, without losing conditions, and entitlements unchanged.
“On 28 February 2023 the ACT Government provided a revised offer to bargaining parties by way of reducing the four-year wage offer to three years and supporting additional union claims improving conditions and entitlements for employees,” a government statement says.
“The pay offer was developed to recognise our valued workforce and to assist in easing financial pressures.
A salary calculator was developed to assist employees with estimated pay offer figures based on their individual salaries.
The calculator allows staff to input their current full-time equivalent salary to determine the annual percentage increases and how their FTE salary would increase over the course of the agreement.
The Government points out that calculations are estimates only and may differ slightly to the final salary figures provided in the proposed enterprise agreement.
Part-time workers would be paid pro rata.
“The combination of the above increases results in significant pay rises for employees covered by enterprise agreements currently under negotiation,” its statement reads.
“Importantly, it provides workers on lower salaries with higher increases than what would be provided if a recurrent percentage was applied.
“This means that every year (from 2023 to 2025) employees will receive either a flat rate increase, a percentage increase or both a flat rate and percentage increase to their salary.
“Importantly, it provides workers on lower salaries with higher increases than what would be provided if a recurrent percentage was applied.
“For example, employees on full-time equivalent (FTE) salary of $157,201 will receive a 3.2 per cent pay rise in year one, and for employees on a FTE salary of $53,868 this amount is 7.5 per cent.
“This means the offer will equate to a total pay increase of between 17.1 per cent ($9,237) for a FTE salary of $53,868, and 9.6 per cent ($15,045) for a FTE salary of $157,201 over the term of the agreement.”
In addition to the 0.5 per cent increase to the superannuation guarantee from 1 July 2025 offered in November 2022, the revised offer includes an additional 0.25 per cent increase from 1 January 2026.
It does not apply to preserved members of other superannuation plans, including CSS and PSSdb, with employees covered by those plans needing to receive the employer contributions specified by the fund rules for the relevant superannuation plan.
All increases are payable on or after the first full pay period in the month specified. For part-time staff, this will be paid on a pro rata basis.
Added benefits being negotiated also include improving flexitime and leave entitlements, simplifying dispute resolution processes, and making health and wellbeing allowances easier to access.
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