TasWater engaged a multinational HR firm at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to do basic functions such as job interviews for its recent restructure – despite having a 23-person HR department of its own in-house.
Unions understand that TasWater has paid over $280,000 to a Multinational HR since October 2013 to do job interviews for around 100 senior roles as part of their contentious restructure.
These payments also contradict statements made by TasWater just last fortnight, that union claims of $1200 a day ( TT here ) for consultants were inaccurate and excessive, and that consultants were only being used to cover specific specialist roles.
Luke Crowley of Professionals Australia commented that “It’s a disgrace that an 800-person organisation with a 23 person HR department would pay almost $300,000 to a multi-national organisation to do basic work that is the core function of HR. This is money that should be spent on failing infrastructure, lowering water bills or retaining in house staff, not feathering the pockets of international organisations.”
In addition, TasWater has also engaged the services of 2 outside consultants to assist their HR department in the ongoing Enterprise Agreement negotiations since March 2014, to a cost of $50,000 thus far, with no end to the process in sight.
“If a 23-person HR department needs to use outside consultants to do job interviews, and negotiate pay and conditions with its staff, then you have to wonder what the Tasmanian bill payer is shelling out for exactly and how this waste won’t add to the bills of everyday Tasmanians” said Trevor Gauld of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing union of Tasmania.
“There are 200,000 premises serviced by TasWater, and for the past 6 months $300,000 of the money paid by Tasmanians at these premises has gone to HR consultants, not on the provision of water and sewerage.”
Unions representing staff at Taswater call on the organisation to commit to attracting and retaining in house staff to ensure the Tasmanian Water and Sewerage Infrastructure is managed effectively for all Tasmanians, and to stop the wasteful use of high priced interstate consultants to fulfil basic and core functions for the organisation.
Luke Crowley. Director, Professionals Australia (Tasmania Branch)
Trevor Gauld; Secretary, Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union ,Tasmania
• Davanjac, in Comments: This a disgrace, it has been a complete shambles since it was taken from the relevant councils. All they are doing is lining their own pockets and the one talks belong them. Talk about a waste of money, and yet they are trying to cut back on their staff. Would somebody please explain. It is obscene the amount of money they are paying themselves to do very little and not make a decision, unless they have a study on a study, as Tasmania is not a very big state and we cannot afford it nor can we have money just going the drain so to speak.
• Mercury: Tassie no place to be a whistleblower “Whistleblowers and witnesses should not have to lose everything … for speaking out for the public benefit.” The group says there have been too many high-profile cases of Tasmanians who had been negatively affected or even lost their jobs after becoming whistleblowers. The list included “shreddergate” source Nigel Burch, former RPDC panellist and scientist assessing the Gunns pulp mill Warwick Raverty, former RPDC chair Julian Green and former Children’s Commissioner Paul Mason. Ms MacGregor said the Public Interest Disclosure Act needed to include compensation provisions for whistleblowers, and WorkSafe Tasmania should offer whistleblower protection.
