Neferti~ wrote:As far as I am aware, the CSIRO is NOT part of the Commonwealth Public Service. I went for an Interview there, many years ago, before I joined the PS and turned the job down because it wasn't linked to the real PS so you were stuck with the CSIRO without being able to change Departments or transfer anywhere.
Yeah i'd say much has changed since you worked there Nef...for starters, the CSIRO do McDonalds drive-through home deliveries now days I believe.Neferti~ wrote:Yes, I know what the CSIRO is (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and where it is situated but it does not have the same benefits or mobility that the Commonwealth Public Service has. So if you work there you can't transfer (easily) to another Department (e.g. DFAT, Education, Health or whatever) like you can if you work elsewhere in the PS. At least it didn't when I applied for a job there in about 1985. Things may have changed, many have, I wouldn't recognise the Public Service nowadays.
Really?mantra wrote:There was an article yesterday saying that over 50's is the highest demographic being employed by the PS at the moment. That's all very well and good, but there's no-one addressing youth unemployment.Neferti~ wrote: but two neighbours are Public Servants, one works in the Senate at Parli house. Both young, single, females.
Many of the public servants have become lazy or redundant in their jobs, but they're still employed. It hasn't changed in years and they still demand so many perks that private enterprise wouldn't consider. They need a good shake up. There are new rules being introduced too in regard to dress regulations. Board shorts and thongs are no longer allowed. What a joke. Who let this happen in the first place?
What did you do with the driver, while getting the haircut?Neferti~ wrote:... we took the Commonwealth car and headed off...
He took off to take Peter Slipper to the gay brothel.boxy wrote:What did you do with the driver, while getting the haircut?Neferti~ wrote:... we took the Commonwealth car and headed off...
Nothing. These were allocated cars for use by public servants, not politicians. I even used to bring a Comm car home. I did follow the "rules" but many people did not and probably still don't.boxy wrote:What did you do with the driver, while getting the haircut?Neferti~ wrote:... we took the Commonwealth car and headed off...
When did all this happen? We talking the 80's, 90's?Neferti~ wrote:I saw some strange things during my stint in the Commonwealth Public Service.
In one Section we needed to go out and inspect blocks of land, businesses, etc. I remember the first time I was asked to go out with someone (you had to have 2 people) and we took the Commonwealth car and headed off, a pile of files in our arms. We were supposed to be heading in one direction, but he detoured, saying "I have to stop to get a haircut"! I was gobsmacked, it would never have occurred to me to take the Comm car and waste time doing private stuff. I said "Won't people notice you have lowered your ears?" and he said "Nope". We didn't waste time looking at the places in the files either ... they were just for show so this bloke could get a haircut and drive around Canberra for a bit. Unbelievable. It was no use reporting anything, I would have been called a snitch or worse.
Another guy in the same Section used to disappear around morning tea time, I was near a window that overlooked the car park and off he went in his own car. I asked someone where he was heading and they said "Oh, he goes down to the local park to practice his golf". He was gone for an hour or so, got back just in time to take off, again, for lunch.
I heard of people who took a Comm car and went and did their grocery shopping ... someone (who should not have been there either) caught these 2 (both married to other people) pushing a trolley around Woollies. The gossip flowed but nobody said a word about people using Comm cars to do their weekly shopping ... in work time!
The CSIRO guy was just unlucky that someone reported him for buying a Maccas in work hours. It happens ALL the time and they can NOT be sacked.
One of the biggest rip offs was flextime. I used to start at 9 and work to 5 but some people started at 8 and knocked off at 4. One such person was still sitting at his desk, reading the SMH at 5 when I was about to leave. I queried that he was still at his desk "working" and he said ... "Yes, just building up some flex". Reading the newspaper for an hour?
I had always worked in private enterprise and doing any of the above would have earned you the sack!
And there are many many more such articles...More than 200,000 Australians aged over 50 now receiving unemployment benefits, new figures show
AM By Naomi Woodley
Updated 30 Jul 2014, 12:08amWed 30 Jul 2014, 12:08am
More than 200,000 Australians aged over 50 are now on the dole, new figures show, with the number of older Australians receiving unemployment benefits dramatically increasing in the past four years.
The Federal Government yesterday unveiled a $5.1 billion plan for a new employment service model that includes about $640 million for wage subsidies to encourage employers to take on the long-term unemployed.
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert says the increase may not just be attributed to Australia's ageing population.
"We have had an increase since last year of 24,000, which is an increase since 2010 of 45 per cent," she told AM.
Promise check
Establish a seniors employment incentive payment of $3,250
Create 1 million new jobs in five years
"I would suggest that that's not just population increasing as our population ages – that there are some employment barriers there that older workers are facing and that they are not being able to re-engage with employment."
The draft employment and welfare changes include an expanded work for the dole system.
Jobseekers will also be forced to apply for 40 jobs each month in order to qualify for benefits.
Senator Siewert says forcing older job seekers to undertake 15 hours of an approved activity each week will not help their employment prospects unless emphasis is put on proper training.
"A keep-busy program I don't think is what they need," she said.
"I couldn't tell you how many reports I've had from older workers, who, when they go to their job service provider, are told 'no', then are refused access to training money and the programs," she said.
"They want to retrain because service providers have been more focused on their young people they think they can get into the workforce more easily."
Wage subsidies not enough, Greens warn
More than $480 million of the money set aside for wage subsidies will be used to encourage employers to take on mature age workers.
Senator Siewert says that, while the money is welcome, wage subsidies will not go far enough.
"Wage subsidies can go a certain way, but we need to get very serious about age discrimination and provide significant training and re-skilling," she said.
The Federal Government, meanwhile, is defending its proposals, with Employment Minister Eric Abetz saying job seekers should not be choosy about finding work.
Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
VIDEO: Senator Abetz discusses changes to unemployment benefits rules (Lateline)
"Where there are jobs available, you should seek that employment even if it is not necessarily the employment of first choice," he told Lateline.
But a professor of social policy at the Australian National University, Peter Whiteford, says it is not necessarily the best approach for the broader economy.
"The reasons for having income support is that it actually improves labour market efficiency," he told AM.
"It means that people have the time to look for jobs that are suited to them and then they'll be more productive when they get those jobs.
"In Australia, for the short-term unemployed, we have the lowest level of benefits relative to wages of any OECD country.
"So the incentives to get a job in the first six to 12 months [are] incredibly strong, because we pay people less as a proportion of wages than anywhere else."
Professor Whiteford's views have been echoed by welfare and business groups.
The Business Council of Australia says the Government should let people focus on applying for jobs they have the best chance of winning, adding that more work is needed to make sure the new system places people in jobs for the long-term.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 70 guests