UWA management wants a Christmas gift from staff – a Santa-season shut-down without people being paid when they aren’t at work or using their leave.

At UWA convention is staff work three state public holidays, Labour Day, WA Day, and Queens Birthday and take leave in-lieu days over the Christmas shut-down. But senior DVC Simon Briggs says this “impacts work-life balance and the opportunity to take regular breaks throughout the year, along with the challenges of public transport options and childcare accessibility.” He proposes staff have the public holidays off and use leave for working-days over Christmas. Staff would continue to get a day off for working the Tuesday after Easter and January 2 is a university holiday.

That this is even up for discussion demonstrates UWA’s enterprise agreement is a gift that gives for management. As a learned reader suggests there are vice chancellors who would think their Christmases had all come at once if their enterprise agreements even allowed discussing this. At ANU last year a suggestion that staff take Christmas close-down days as leave became an industrial issue (CMM July 13 2017)