Public servants fearing for jobs ‘Secure work needed’
that people acting in “higher duties” for sometimes up to a decade were afraid to speak openly and honestly to managers, or even take holidays, because they feared they would be demoted back to their substantive position to their financial detriment.
Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Michael Clifford said it was important to provide people with financial certainty, so they could apply for loans and spend in the recovering postCOVID economy.
Mr Clifford urged the government to introduce an amendment that allowed an employee to appeal a decision not to give them permanency after a year.
Mr Clifford also said that there was a problem within the proposed legislation as it allowed for a person to continue in insecure employment if their manager failed to make a decision on permanency – a situation that unfairly disadvantaged the worker.
The legislation will change disciplinary procedures and provide an entitlement for a public servant who runs for parliament but is defeated at an election to be reappointed to their former position.