The ever-changing face of community and disability

ITS EVER-CHANGING FACE

2020 PRODUCED many unexpected twists and turns and COVID-19 continues to impact on the way we now all work as well as how we go about our lives away from work.

The community sector continues to ride a wave of uncertainty around funding and, if lucky enough to receive government money, there's always uncertainty around just how big a slice of the pie it'll get. This creates unnecessary stress and insecurity for those members affected by fixed term contracts or, even worse, those continually having their fixed term contracts renewed during the term of their original contract.

That's confusing and scary for workers and their families, and all because it lessens the financial burden on the employer in the event they don't receive any or enough funding to continue with current community programs that may be heavily reduced or shut down completely. In the disability sector we're seeing the continued impact of the NDIS and how it's affecting members financially, not to mention when, how and the way in which they perform their work.

Roster changes aren't always family friendly and workers sometimes have to chase up payroll and HR to recover unpaid contracted hours of work when, for whatever reason, pays are a few hours short here and there.

Client choice is another issue creating major concern. It's good that service users have a choice about who they engage to provide for their needs, but in a lot of cases it seems employers have gone straight to end game and told staff, often without any consultation, that they're reducing contracted hours of work. That sort of thing is hugely difficult and it can be hard for members to understand their rights and available options, but employees do have rights and certain processes must be followed by employer. All a HACSU member needs to remember is don't agree to or sign anything in a rush - just go away, digest it, then call us so we can provide assistance through what can be a traumatic process. The other issue we're seeing a lot more of is allegations against workers, often involving time consuming investigation processes, that have a huge impact on mental health as they're often stood down on full pay for extended periods without knowing what it is they've allegedly done. Anyone impacted by the above situations should contact us immediately as there's no time to waste in these sort of matters.