The industrial umpire says it has met process requirements so far

Deakin U plans a restructure of admin units in the business and law faculty and wants to create a university-wide finance unit, to replace existing decentralised functions. Overall headcount is not expected to change but all up 250 roles could be subject to a spill and fill (CMM November 21).

In July, management briefed staff on the proposed structure, including job titles and pay-grades however the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union asked for position descriptions for the new jobs. When managed declined the union took the dispute to the Fair Work Commission, arguing this breached Deakin U’s enterprise agreement. But FWC Deputy President Gostencick says nothing doing, that the information provided to staff met the university’s obligations under the agreement and, “is both reasonable and rational in the circumstances,” at this stage of the process.

The union has also made the same argument against a later restructure proposal for the advancement division, but unless there are different specifics, it seems the university is now able to continue to consultation stages for all.