JCU defends taxi drops Staff member says $ 20,000 spent delivering letters to homes
JAMES Cook University has been accused of incompetence and waste, a claim denied by the uni, after it urgently sent letters to staff by taxi.
An employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said the university hired a taxi to deliver a package relating to a proposed enterprise agreement to his home near Alligator Creek on Monday.
He estimated the university could have spent $ 20,000 delivering letters via taxi to up to 440 staff likely to be on leave.
He said many of the staff may not have been home to receive the letters.
“The taxi driver said his next delivery was in Bluewater when he left my place at about 7pm,” he said.
“I knew the person as I asked who it was and they were not home as they are on long service leave and away for a couple of months.”
He said a phone call or text to ask staff to check their emails would have achieved the same outcome.
A spokesman for the university admitted it had sent letters to staff via taxis but said the costs were negligible.
“On Monday this week, the university wrote to all staff to announce it’s time for them to have their say on the universi- ty’s proposed enterprise agreement,” he said.
“This process is regulated by the Fair Work Act, with mandatory time frames required by law to take steps to ensure that all our employees have access to a copy of the enterprise agreement at least seven days before voting starts.
“Given the size and geographic spread of our work- force, the primary method of communication has been by email, and documents have been made available through the university intranet page.
“However, we also have taken steps to communicate with staff, who were identified by the university HR system as being on leave, to ensure they were aware of the university’s email and are supported in accessing the material.
“These staff remain our employees and are entitled to have the same opportunities as all other employees to participate in the process.
“One aspect of this support was printing and delivering copies of the Enterprise Agree- ment to employees identified by the HR system, including by courier, and where not practical, by taxi.
“The costs associated with doing so were negligible and necessary given the mandatory time frames required by the Fair Work Act and the importance we place on all staff having the same opportunity to participate in this process.”
Workers are being asked to vote yes or no on the deal, which includes five weeks of annual leave, 17 per cent superannuation, six months of paid parental leave and up to 78 weeks of notice and severance for redundancy. Voting starts on Wednesday.