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Whole-of-Service COVID-19 Response

EMPLOYMENT DIRECTIONS - FLEXIBILITY

The State Service response to COVID-19 made it necessary for Heads of Agencies to be flexible and agile in managing recruitment activities including fixed-term arrangements, filling vacancies, and Senior Executive Service mobility. To support these requirements, SSMO created two additional Employment Directions (ED)2, which effected temporary changes to ED1 - Employment in the State Service and ED17 - Senior Executive Service and Equivalent Specialist Officers Administrative Arrangements and Conditions of Service, and made amendments to the delegations relating to ED17.

These additional arrangements gave Heads of Agencies discretion when making employment decisions to support response and recovery efforts, including the power to extend fixed-term arrangements, and to extend the period for making subsequent selections for up to an additional six months. ED1a and ED17a were approved by the Premier during June 2020.

SPECIAL LEAVE - COVID-19 (REGULATION 25A)

A key measure introduced in response to the unique circumstances arising out of COVID-19 was the establishment of State Service Regulation 25A, which provides additional leave for employees when:

  • they have exhausted their personal leave entitlements and have contracted COVID-19, or are caring for a member of their immediate family or household who has contracted COVID-19; or
  • they are required to enter isolation, in accordance with a direction made in relation to an authorisation of emergency powers under the Emergency Management Act 2006, or a direction made under the Public Health Act 1997; or
  • they are responsible for providing care or support to a member of their immediate family or household who is unable to attend school or other care arrangements, due to the school or care arrangements being unavailable due to COVID-19; or
  • they are unable to work for any other reason relating to COVID-19, and are unable to work from home.

The new entitlement provides access to paid leave of up to 20 days pro-rata (which can be extended if necessary by the Head of Agency).

Since coming into force in April 2020, almost 700 employees across
the State Service have accessed the new COVID-19 leave entitlement.

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT ADVICE

To support agencies and enable consistency across the State Service, SSMO developed the Information Guide – Employment Arrangements, Workforce Management, and Leave (including Special Leave – COVID-19) During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response3 (the Guide) and Tasmanian State Service – Covid-19 Response Scenarios addressing workforce absences4 (the Scenarios) available on SSMO’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) website.

The Guide sets out the overarching workforce management principles to be applied by agencies as part of their COVID-19 response. The principles emphasise that the health and well-being of State Service employees is the highest priority and a key consideration in determining working arrangements.

The Guide and the Scenarios provide regularly updated information on managing employee wellbeing, requests to access flexible arrangements, advice on varying duties, and arrangements for employees at greater risk of severe illness from COVID-19. They also provide example scenarios for applying the Special Leave - COVID-19 entitlement, and for managing employees absent from the workplace who are not ill.

A toolkit is also available on the SSMO website5 that supports managers and employees working from home.

As the transition out of COVID-19 public health restrictions began, SSMO developed the COVIDSafe Workplaces in the TSS: A Framework for Transitioning to the New “Normal” 6 the TSS Framework). The TSS Framework provides high level guidance to agencies, highlighting important matters for consideration when planning for transition periods and for the return of employees to their regular workplaces.

SUPPORT FOR FIXED-TERM EMPLOYEES (INCLUDING CASUALS, SESSIONALS, SEASONALS AND RELIEF)

Support for fixed-term, and fixed-term casual, seasonal, sessional and relief employees has been a key part of our whole-of-service COVID-19 response. Where these employees were unable to undertake their normal duties as a result of service reduction and/or workplace closures, for example frontline tourism employees at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) and Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA), a commitment was given to maintain their employment and regular hours of work. This support means that affected employees continue to be paid what they could have otherwise expected but for COVID-19.

SSMO worked with the State Controller to issue a Direction7 under Section 43 of the Emergency Management Act 2006, making it possible for fixed-term, and fixed-term casual, seasonal, sessional and relief employees to be deployed to help with the COVID-19 response. A Notice 8 issued by the Premier under Section 16 of the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020, provided the mechanism for fixed-term casual, seasonal, sessional and relief employees arrangements to be continued (to support emergency response activities) where their employment would otherwise have ceased.

To support current fixed-term, and fixed-term casual, seasonal, sessional and relief employees to access opportunities for interoperability, they were encouraged to make themselves available for whole-of-service COVID-19 response and emergency activities through a whole-of-Government Expression of Interest (EoI) process under the Tasmanian Government’s Interoperability Arrangements for Sharing Skilled Resources.

A total of 27 fixed-term, and fixed-term casual, seasonal, sessional and relief employees successfully
applied through the State Service Interoperability Expression of Interest process.

COVID SAFE WORKPLACES

In support of WorkSafe Tasmania’s COVID-19 Safe Workplaces Framework9 (the WorkSafe Framework), SSMO developed the COVID Safe Workplace Guidelines – Public Administration Industry10 (the Guidelines) to provide guidance to public employers on what they should do and consider as they seek to resume normal business operations and work activities.

Each Tasmanian State Service agency created its own COVID-19 Safety Plan in accordance with the Guidelines and the WorkSafe Framework, which includes documenting measures in place to ensure the safety of employees, customers, and the community.

3. http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/520706/COVID-19_Information_Guide_-_March_2020.pdf

4. http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/526420/COVID-19_Scenarios_Addressing_Workforce_Absences.pdf

5. http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/ssmo/coronavirus

6. http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/546725/COVIDSafe_Workplaces_in_the_TSS_-_A_Framework_for_Transitioning_to_the_New_Normal.pdf

7. Page 325, http://www.gazette.tas.gov.au/editions/2020/may_2020/21985_-_Gazette_13_May_2020.pdf

8. http://www.gazette.tas.gov.au/editions/2020/may_2020/21991_-_Special_29_May_2020.pdf

9. https://www.worksafe.tas.gov.au/topics/Health-and-Safety/safety-alerts/coronavirus/covid-safe-workplaces-framework

10. https://www.worksafe.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/570421/COVID-Safe-Workplace-Guidelines-Public-Administration.pdf