The best recruitment asset SAPOL has is its own people, as I indicated to Premier Peter Malinauskas and Police Minister Joe Szakacs in a recent meeting. Police have significant professional and personal reach in the broader community and can engender public interest in policing as a career – or not.
A workforce riddled with discontent is hardly likely to promote SAPOL as an employer of choice.
There is no question that the current demands on resourcing come with a heavy, daily impact on members. That can be workload intensification, increased work-related stress, greater operational risk, or a decline in work-life balance or job satisfaction.
The marked increase in separations from SAPOL this year – with resignations exceeding retirements – shows that the retention of currently serving police officers is under threat and that a solution is critical.
Equally, or even more, important is organizational and government investment in policing to restore morale, enhance job satisfaction, and ensure positive recognition of hardworking police.
With any healthy, happy, satisfied workforce comes a higher rate of retention and a greater inclination for its workers to encourage suitable candidates from within their network to sign up for a police career.
The SAPOL Enterprise Agreement 2021 expires in January 2024. Clause 1.3 stipulates that negotiations for a subsequent enterprise agreement will commence no more than three months before the nominal expiry date.
The Police Association has made its view abundantly clear to government – the timely negotiation of an agreement which acknowledges the challenges today’s police officers face, and both protects their rights and rewards them accordingly.
No time is more critical than now to present all possibilities and proposals at the negotiation table. Securing existing entitlements is a crucial starting point. But it is time to think outside the box.
How can the EA support member recruitment and retention? How can it help protect your employment rights, and define entitlements applicable to a contemporary policing environment?
Most police officers are subject to the Triple S superannuation scheme. Is it time for consideration of increased employer contributions when a member achieves a defined length of service?
Is there scope for government to consider a cost-of-living adjustment which takes into account CPI and provides an additional payment over and above the nominal salary increase and/or mid-point adjustment, subject to CPI data?
Would a right to disconnect from work-related communication – except for emergency or welfare reasons when not rostered on duty or on call – interest members?
Although legislatively complex, would it not be beneficial to explore options for alternative salary sacrifice arrangements, including mortgage payments?
And none of us should lose sight of the importance and unique challenges of country police work. What matters most to country police?
Do country police working 24-7 shifts want to transition to extended-hours rostering? If so, the enterprise bargaining process enables SAPOL to seek additional government funding to do so – just as the 2014 and 2016 EAs secured funding for the metropolitan REHR.
Clear from my experience as a former chief EB negotiator is that one cannot understate the complexity of negotiation.
The association will undertake specific communication with members in the coming months to help develop a relevant log of claims. It will seek members’ ideas or proposals suitable for progression in the upcoming enterprise bargaining negotiations.
It is important to grasp the experience and wisdom of the membership and actively listen to member feedback. Members are the ones best placed to identify matters which impact on them.
Nothing is guaranteed in enterprise bargaining. Any proposal submitted for negotiation requires agreement by the bound parties: the declared employer, the commissioner of police, and the association.
While there will likely be several points of commonality, parties often express contrary views. Negotiating in good faith and in a positive, professional, and productive manner is fundamental to achieving key outcomes which support, protect and benefit the membership.
