‘Simpler super’ draws ATO into union flack

The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO’s) efforts to get on top of the Government’s new ‘simpler super’ regime has drawn flack from a key trade union representing public servants.

The Community and Public Service Union said it is in dispute with the ATO over the classification of staff recruited to work within the new Super Simplification area.

In a newsletter to members, the union said that in early February the ATO had recruited staff to Super Simplification to work on outbound calls in the Lost (super) Members Register, but “since this time, not only have the ATO arbitrarily imposed rosters on staff, but members report that the frequency of rostering has increased from once a fortnight to up to four times in a single week”.

It claims this falls outside the agency agreement covering ATO employment, which does not allow for “hybrid arrangements”.

The union said it had notified the existence of a dispute challenging the ability of the ATO to even roster these staff in the first place.

It said it would be escalating the dispute if the issues were not resolved.