11 Feb 2008

PROPOSAL FOR RATIFICATION

CANZ and the Department of Corrections have reached a final offer position in the negotiations to renew the CANZ / Prison Services Collective Agreement and the proposal will now proceed to a full round of ratification meetings.

 

A FULL ROUND OF RATIFICATION MEETINGS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS IN A SUBSEQUENT UPDATE.

 

The proposed settlement comprises the matters set out below.

 

PROPOSAL FOR RATIFICATION

 

1.     Salaries and allowances

If ratified, all  salaries to be increased by 3% from 1 January 2008, a further increase of 3% on 1 January 2009 and a further increase of 2% in January 2010 for a period of 8 months.    

 

2.     Term

2 years 8 months expiring 31 August 2010.

 

3.     Flexible Working Practices Project

It is agreed to scope a Flexible Working Practices Project.

The broad context of the project, subject to final scoping and resource availability will be to examine the feasibility of flexible shifts and working arrangements, and their suitability to different sites.

The parties have agreed to enter further negotiations at the conclusion of the project to discuss the impact on the terms and conditions of employment.

CANZ initiated this project because of the ongoing issues of short staffing within the prisons and with the intention of improving the working conditions and remuneration of the members during the Term of the new agreement.

 

4.     Public Holidays

Shift workers will receive a lieu day for all Public Holidays except Waitangi and Anzac Day. This clause effectively means an extra 3 to 4 days paid leave per annum for most Corrections Officers and Nurses and will apply from 1 January 2008 if the proposal is ratified. This means that those members who qualify will have at least 2 credit days already. (New Years Day and the Day After).

 

5.     Nurses

PS agrees to pay professional fees for nurses - $96.00 per year.  PS is prepared to consider developing a Professional Recognition and Development Programme in PS.

 

6.     Administration Workers

      Subject to funding, the Admin Workers increases may be exceeded as a result of the

      Translation and slotting exercise to be worked through in 2008.

 

7.   RPL

PS will offer a Level 3 RPL Programme, and will initiate a Road-Show to give employees at each site the opportunity to become fully aware of what is involved with RPL and what resources will be available to them in terms of preparation of their Portfolio of Evidence for assessment.  The Road-Show will be completed within two months of the date the collective is ratified. 

     

      Backdating Pay for RPL

In order to address issues arising out of the last settlement PS are offering an opportunity for participation in the recently completed RPL process for employees who were already in PS as at 1July 2006 (the commencement of the last agreement) along with the associated salary recognition backdated to be effective from 1 January 2008 if successful on the terms outlined, to be provided.

 

Staff will have one month after the completion of the Road-Show to advise their manager in writing that they wish to enroll in the RPL/backdating Programme. 

 

8.     HDA

PS agrees to reduce the qualifying period for HDA for SCO and PCO from 5 days + 1 to “5 days or more”, so HDA will be effective if a person acts up for 5 days or more.

 

9.   Coverage

      Add:

›    Whanau Liaison Officers

›    Reintegration Case Workers

›    Crime Prevention Information Support Officer

     

10. Sabbatical Leave

Union members who have completed 10 years service are eligible, once only, for unpaid sabbatical leave of up to 12 months

 

11. ACRP

It is agreed that PS and CANZ will engage separately to discuss amalgamation of the collective agreements and cross site co-operation as the redevelopment of the ACRP site and Mt Eden’s integration is further progressed and with the potential to also take account of any initiatives from the flexibility project.

 

12. Union relationships

The Department wishes to enter into discussions with CANZ over the establishment of a more formal Relationship Agreement at a Departmental level to include protocols and structures to support the relationship and to encourage constructive engagement between the parties on issues of common interest, including the establishment of an agreed process or forum for the resolution of differences of interpretation/application of the agreement or related matters and any new issues arising during the term of the collective agreement.

 

 

13. Corrections Officer Development

CANZ is invited to participate in a project which will examine corrections officer development and promotion processes.

 

 14. Common Employment Provisions

Once announced, PS will consider the outcome of the SSC/Public Service working group on common employment conditions, subject to funding.

 

 15. Technical Issues

      i.All references to Public Prisons Service or PPS will be altered to become “Prison Services” or “PS”.

 

     ii.To comply with the Holidays Act, a provision will be added to confirm that employees will normally receive their holiday pay for annual leave in accordance with the usual pay cycle, but may request that their holiday pay be paid before they commence annual leave of one week or more and provided Payroll have no less than two weeks notice of this in time to do so.