Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales CITATION: Notification under s 130 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 by Commissioner of Police of an industrial dispute with the Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Assoc Amalgamated Union of NSW re proposed bans [2008] NSWIRComm 51 APPLICANT: Commissioner of Police PARTIES: RESPONDENT: Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales FILE NUMBER(S): IRC 128 of 2008 CORAM: Boland J CATCHWORDS: Industrial dispute - NSW Police Force - Proposal to restructure administrative classifications - Changes to employee roles and rostering - Re-training and relocation of employees - Voluntary redundancy - Conciliation conferences - Trial period recommended - Parties to monitor trial implementation. HEARING DATES: 6, 8, 15,19 & 29 February 2008 10, 13 & 17 March 2008 DATE OF JUDGMENT: 18 March 2008 APPLICANT: Mr A J Woods Henry Davis York Lawyers LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES: RESPONDENT: Mr S Little Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales JUDGMENT: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES CORAM: BOLAND J Tuesday, 18 March 2008 Matter No IRC 128 of 2008 Notification under s 130 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 by Commissioner of Police of an industrial dispute with the Public Service Association and Professional Officers' Association Amalgamated Union of New South Wales re proposed bans SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT AND RECOMMENDATION [2008] NSWIRComm 51 1 On 19 February 2008 I issued a Statement and Recommendation in relation to this dispute. In accordance with that Statement and Recommendation the parties were to report back to the Commission on 29 February 2008 regarding a draft roster to apply at Hurstville Local Area Command in relation to proposed new working arrangements for administrative staff. The PSA contended that the draft roster was unworkable. The PSA indicated that similar problems were likely to emerge at other LACs. 2 At the Conciliation Conference on 29 February 2008 the Commission suggested further discussions regarding the proposed roster be held at the local level. Those discussions took place but no resolution was reached. At a further Conference on 10 March 2008 it was recommended to the Commissioner that an alternative roster for Hurstville as proposed by the Police Association be considered. 3 Little progress was made towards any agreement on the alternative roster and at a Conference on 13 March 2008 the Commission suggested that an inspection of the Hurstville Police Station might assist it in gaining a more thorough understanding of the respective position of the parties. That inspection took place on 17 March 2008. 4 It was evident from the inspection that the PSA's principal concerns were, firstly, the additional, and what was contended to be excessive, workload that administrative staff would be required to bear with the reduction in staff numbers down to five and, secondly, the practical difficulties staff would have to deal with if the General Support Officers ('GSOs'), Court Process Officers ('CPOs') and Clerical Officers ('COs') roles were to be combined into one role to be known as General Administrative Support Officer ('GASO'). 5 The Police Association also reiterated its concern that an increase in the workload of administrative staff would inevitably spill over into the work of sworn officers. 6 The representatives of the Commissioner indicated they were prepared to do their best to accommodate any practical difficulties that might be experienced as a consequence of the combined roles. This included re-locating staff from the fourth floor of the building to the ground floor adjacent to the front desk and to install an appropriate workstation at that location. The Police Association had proposed an alternative location on the ground floor that would involve some structural alterations to internal walls. 7 As to the contention regarding extra workload, the Commissioner's representatives believed that with appropriate re-organisation, training and the introduction of multi-skilling, the reduced staff would be able to cope with the workload. 8 It is evident that the parties are unable to resolve their differences. In the circumstances, it becomes necessary to supplement the earlier Recommendation made by the Commission on 19 February 2008. Firstly, the Commission adheres to the original Recommendation. In particular, the Commissioner will be held to his assurance (confirmed at the Conference on 10 March 2008) that the workload and duties of sworn police officers will not be affected by the restructuring being undertaken in relation to the administrative staff employed at LACs. That is to say, the sworn officers will not be required to undertake administrative work in any station beyond the existing arrangements that apply either by custom or rule. 9 Secondly, it should be made plain that the fact employees may be required, with the appropriate training, to undertake new work in different locations within a station according to new roster arrangements is no basis, of itself, for the Commission to intervene unless it is shown that the changes are unfair or unreasonable in so far as they impact on employees. A general claim that the changes are having an unacceptable adverse impact on employees is not sufficient. At the present time, I am unable to say whether the proposed changes will or will not produce an unacceptable burden on employees in terms of their workload. I note in this respect, that one of the employees' concerns is that because they will be required to undertake work at the front desk as well as administrative work, the desk work (because of its nature) will take priority and with the reduced number of staff their administrative work will fall behind and they will be faced with a mounting backlog. 10 Thirdly, the Commission does not intend to recommend the restructuring process be brought to a halt to provide the PSA with the opportunity of proposing an entirely new and different approach; that opportunity passed by many months ago and the process is too far advanced for it not to be given an opportunity of being tested as to its practicability. 11 Fourthly, the Commission considers the most appropriate course is to recommend a trial period of 21 days commencing from the implementation date of the new arrangements, that is 7 April 2008. The trial period will apply on a State-wide basis so that for the duration of the 21-day period the parties will monitor the implementation of the new arrangements, with particular attention being given to employee workload. At the expiry of the 21-day period the parties will have the opportunity to state their position regarding the trial and having received that information the Commission will take whatever course of action it considers appropriate. The trial period will not prevent any problems that do arise at the local level from being addressed and resolved and the Commission would encourage such an approach. The Commission expects that both sides will approach the trial in good faith and on a cooperative basis. 12 Fifthly, in the event that within the 21-day trial period a particular question, dispute or difficulty arises that threatens the implementation process at a specific station the parties, or either of them, have liberty to bring the matter to the Commission at short notice. 13 The parties should be given sufficient time to collect and collate any information from the trial once it expires so that the parties shall report to the Commission on the outcome of the trial period at 10.00 am on Monday 5 May 2008. ___________________________________________ DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated.