Telecommunications
Travel Allowance warning
(21 June 2010) An incident in Victoria has highlighted the need for Telstra employees to be aware of the conditions governing the payment of Travel Allowance (TA).
TA is only paid by Telstra if staff actually stay overnight at a temporary location. In the Victorian case, which involved Network Construction staff, employees were found not to have stayed at the temporary location overnight. As a result, severe disciplinary action was taken against them.
In some states, Telstra is currently offering TA to regionally-based staff to travel to metropolitan areas to fulfil the new weekend customer service commitments. Members must be clear that these TA payments are conditional on staff actually staying in the metropolitan locations for the period TA is being paid.
For more information, contact the CEPU via feedback@cepu.asn.au