Postal
Enterprise Agreement progress: FNDs
(4 June 2010) Talks were reconvened last week with Australia Post to move things forward on the enterprise agreement with the Corporation.
One of the matters covered off related to the Facility Nominated Doctor Scheme.
As you know, our EBA7 campaign focused on security - safety - pay.
On safety, the CEPU has long fought the way that Post uses FNDs to force injured employees back to work.
We're pleased to inform members that there's been considerable positive movement on reforming the FND system.
The unions and Post have been working together on a replacement system to the current FND process.
While the details are still to be finalised, the key features of the new system include:
- A greater role for family or employee treating doctors in the development of return to work plans for injured workers. We firmly believe that an employee's family doctor – is more familiar with their patients history for managing their health and well being than an FND – therefore should have a greater say on whether an injured worker is capable of returning to work on medical restrictions if at all during the injury period.
- Post appreciates this argument, and to help promote better informed decision making by GPs it has proposed that it provide to an injured employee (who then passes on to their GP) a detailed "Work Ready form" that outlines the type of work typically carried out by the injured employee. This will allow GPs to appropriately assess and certify whether the injured worker could perform their normal duties or alternate duties (or whether the worker needs time off to recover).
- Injured workers will have a right to choose to have their injury treated and managed by a FND or their own family GP - and an education campaign for both managers and employees will re-inforce the point that employees will be able to make their own choice on who they see without duress whatsoever
If this new system is agreed to, Post will REMOVE its reliance on the Principal Determination - which means it will no longer force or have an authority to direct employees to attend FNDs in the way it does now.
However, if an employee fails to provide the Work Ready form to their own GP for completion or fails to return the Work Ready form from their GP, Post will rely on the relevant Award section available for directing the injured employee to attend an FND for the purpose of having the same Work Ready form completed to manage the injured workers fitness for duty.
Again, the finer points to these major changes are still being worked out - but we think that what is being proposed is a significant improvement to what currently operates in Post and it will provide greater safety of your wellbeing.
Both Post and the CEPU wrote to the Senate Inquiry letting them know about these developments, to help make sure that the Inquiry has the latest information on what is being considered during renewed EBA7 talks.
For more information, contact the CEPU via feedback@cepu.asn.au