AgentF posted:

Thanks for the links. Not sure if this is the award or not. She's in the hospital now and recovering so I'll try to hold back with questions until she's on her feet again.

Thanks for the detailed response. The union is hard at work trying to do a few things at that workplace so are hopefully on the case of trying to extract that promised permanency (it was promised for a few casuals so she's not alone in this). I'm not sure which union it is but I'll try to find out. If they're solidly on the case then it seems like something I can't really help by involving myself in, since I'm assuming that they're the experts in this kind of thing and I'm only the fiance of a relative of one of the employees involved.

The employer has been taking advantage of her for a while now. She's owed thousands in unpaid wages due to HR stuff-ups and is also rostered heavily for holidays; she hasn't had a Christmas or Mother's Day free for years now despite asking well in advance. Hopefully a precedence of screwing her about will count against them in front of an ombudsman. I don't know how much lawyers cost and this woman already seriously doesn't have a lot of money and can be kinda proud at times so might not accept me paying for a lawyer for her.

Edit: dodgy employer snipe

AgentF posted:

Fairly delayed response as we've been waiting for her to get out of hospital before asking too many questions. I'll find out about her membership; the union in question is the Public Service Association, which appears to be the South Australian branch of the CPSU(?). Don't know how good this union is - hopefully they're on the case and working to sort this out.

Unless I am mistaken, she is under this enterprise agreement, as an OPS2. It looks like she's not casual but a part-time worker under contracts that have been renewed on a yearly basis. She's been working yearly contracts for seven years now without interruption; is that a reason to argue that she should have been offered permanency by now?

The documentation that shows the employer's dodgy behaviour would mostly be e-mails and I don't think she can access them without being at work, which is a problem since her contract will end before she recovers. I'll see if she has any letters or text messages that might be helpful. Hopefully a Stat Dec holds some weight in regards to backing up her claims.

Thanks again for the advice you have provided so far

gay picnic defence posted:

The reef is thousands of kilometers long, the port is maybe a couple of kilometers of coastline at best. I'm deadset against the projects too, but hyperbole isn't going to help.

AgentF posted:

An update on this. I've read correspondence betweeen the union and the employer and it looks like they are right on the case, specifically mentioning the fiance's mum as well as two other employees who are in the same situation, and insisting that they be instated as permanent. The language is very firm and legalese and indicates to me that they know what they're doing, which makes me happy. Fiance's mum looked through her work e-mails and hasn't found any that discuss permanency at all, as I suspected the promises of permanency were only ever made verbally. She is certain these conversations happened and is willing to sign a stat dec to this effect. She's surrounded by very supportive workmates and has a good case, so hopefully she will come out of this with her job, but either way I am happy that as much as possible is being done.

I appreciate you answering my posts and chasing up on them, they've been some good support, so as a thank you I will donate $50 to any organisation of your choice.

Jumpingmanjim posted: