News

Monday, 30 March 2020

Have your say – Northcott offers Team Leaders package to settle classification dispute


We know that many Service Coordinators (Team Leaders) have been waiting for an update on our Federal Court case about whether the copied state instrument applies post restructure.

Briefly, on 12 March 2020 a mediation was held between Northcott and the CPSU in the Federal Court.

As part of the mediation process and following discussions between the parties, Northcott has now proposed a settlement package which represents the offer they are prepared to make to settle the legal proceedings (outlined below). Now is your opportunity to vote on whether to accept or decline Nothcott’s settlement package.

Before voting you need to read the information below in full, so you know what you are voting on.

What is the effect of my vote?

If Service Coordinators vote to accept this offer it will mean the case is settled and there will be no further legal proceedings before the Federal Court.

If Service Coordinators vote to not accept this offer then the matter will proceed before the Federal Court, where there can be no certainty of outcome.

What is the offer?

  1. Transferring Service Coordinators will be paid an annual salary of $88,808 for a “transitional period”. This is designed to provide each transferring employee with a gross salary which, with the full benefit of salary packaging, would be equivalent to the gross salary currently payable to a Team Leader – One Unit – Year 1 rate under the Copied State Award ($98,578).
  2. The “transitional period” referred to above at 1 would commence on 16 April 2020 (which takes into account the period from transfer on 23 January 2020 to 15 April 2020 which is covered by lump sum salary maintenance payments already paid to transferring Service Coordinators). This means your annual salary would commence being paid at the higher salary from 16 April 2020.
  3. The transitional period would end, meaning this annual salary would continue to be paid until the later of the following dates:
    1. 22 January 2021 (being 12 months after the date of transfer from NSL to Northcott); or
    2. the date on which a replacement Northcott EA covering the Service Coordinators is made.
  4. At the end of the transitional period, transferring Service Coordinators would be remunerated at the maximum pay point for the Coordinator 3 classification under the replacement Northcott EA.
  5. If accepted by the members, the CPSU would agree to discontinue the Proceedings with each party to bear its own costs.
  6. The above terms would be reflected in a settlement agreement between the parties, including a term that the CPSU will not commence or support any claim by an employee in relation to the subject matter of the Proceedings.

How to vote

If you are a Service Coordinator, previously a transferred Team Leader, you can vote YES or NO HERE.

The survey will close on 3 April 2020.

With the advent of COVID-19 to ensure our members’ safety we will not be holding large member meetings, however we can hold meetings via video conference.

If members are interested in having a video conference, please notify your Organisers and we will arrange a time with those who are interested. Their contact details are below.

If you would like to become more involved with the CPSU NSW and your workplace, please contact your CPSU NSW Organiser or the Member Support Centre on 1300 772 679

Ask your colleagues to stand with you by joining CPSU NSW today. They can JOIN ONLINE HERE.

CPSU NSW Organisers

Cora Sarmiento
Tony Hay