On 19 October 2015 the ASU filed a dispute in the Fair Work Commission over AaE's proposal to change your pay cycle, and its impact on employees.
In particular, ASU members are concerned about the following things:
- The fact that the roster cycle and pay cycle will be different will make it extremely hard for employees to check whether they have been paid correctly, including whether the right amount of overtime has been paid;
- There will be a week delay between the pay cycle finishing and the payment being made;
- The changing of the day on which employees are paid will affect employees' capacity to meet payments that are scheduled for their existing pay day (such as mortgages and loans);
- It is unfair to change the way days in lieu will be accrued;
- Making employees choose between going for several weeks without a proper pay or to get into debt to their employer is unfair;
- The timing of the change is particularly bad, being the two months before Christmas. Christmas is a notoriously difficult time financially for many people, and the ASU has asked AaE to hold off on its proposal until 2016 so that employees can get through Christmas without extra stresses on their finances, but AaE has refused.
We have asked the Fair Work Commission for an urgent conference to deal with the matter and will advise members once we are given a time that the matter will be dealt with.
We have also asked AaE to confirm it will cease the implementation of its proposed change until our dispute can be dealt with in the Commission, to make sure that independent umpire has an opportunity to deal with the dispute before the change takes effect.
We will keep members up to date with developments.
If you would like further information, please contact your local organiser (download the full bulletin below for details).
AaE Bulletin - 20 October 2015