‘High stress’ as jobs, pay pared

University restructures staffing

EMPLOYEES caught up in the University of Otago’s job restructuring are experiencing ‘‘high stress’’ as they consider proposals which could cut their pay by more than 40%, the union representing them claims.

The 280 finance and administration staff received letters last week informing them of the future of their jobs, and 215 were offered the option of being reconfirmed into similar roles.

University human resources director Kevin Seales said ‘‘the vast majority’’ of the remaining 65 people would be offered the option of a role at a lower level.

According to Tertiary Education Union organiser Shaun Scott some staff at levels 5 to 8 on the university’s pay scale — earning between $53,542 and $96,520 — were being offered the option of moving down to level 4, at which salaries ranged from $47, 835 to $57,531.

Mr Scott said he understood someone at the top of the level 8 pay scale would automatically be given the top payment on the level 4 one as well.

A university spokeswoman said 23 of the affected staff were at level 5, 31 were at level 6, and only two were at level 7 and above.

‘‘We were aware that transferring from level 7plus to level 4 was not ideal but felt it best to offer all staff affected in this way the same opportunity,’’ she said.

There were some level 5 and above jobs at the university still to be advertised in the restructuring.

The spokeswoman said the restructuring provided opportunities for people to reapply for higherlevel jobs as well as giving them surety of employment if they failed.

The university has said those who choose to take lowerlevel jobs will receive their existing salary for two more years, and that can be extended to five years for staff who are within five years of retirement.

Mr Scott said it was too early to say how many staff were seriously considering redundancy over the lowerlevel position. They had until June 6 to consider the proposal.

‘‘The roles will change reasonably significantly. That is what people are taking into consideration as well,’’ he said.

Staff were seeking ‘‘a level of detail’’ not provided by the university, and part of the work he was doing during the consultation was trying to provide them with clarity on exactly what their new roles would be.

‘‘We’re trying to enable people to make informed decisions. They are some of the big issues for people,’’ he said.

‘‘For a number of people there’s still uncertainty. There’s a high level of stress.’’

For some, having a job was the crucial thing, but for those who had reached a very high level in their careers what the university was proposing was ‘‘a step backwards’’.

The university said in a statement last Wednesday there were a number of new positions to be advertised in the middle of June 2018.

If staff ended up leaving the university through redundancy, they would receive a minimum of two month’s notice.