Bonuses for QR managers derailed at last minute
TWO years after a mass cancellation of Queensland Rail services led to a Commission of Inquiry, the Palaszczuk Government has stepped in to stop hundreds of senior managers from sharing in millions of dollars worth of extra pay.
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THE Palaszczuk Government has stepped in to stop hundreds of Queensland Rail senior managers from sharing in $3.6 million worth of bonuses.
The Courier-Mail understands the QR board approved the hefty bonuses of up to 15 per cent at a meeting on Friday, which would have been granted to 384 staff.
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The Government last night issued a direction to stop the payments, outraged that QR would contemplate any bonuses at a time when they have failed to restore full services.
The average bonus would have come in at 8.1 per cent or about $9300, with not one train driver or guard to have benefited.
It is understood the Government was only made aware of the decision yesterday.
The shareholding Ministers – Treasurer Jackie Trad and Transport Minister Mark Bailey – last night stepped in to issue a direction to QR to stop the bonuses.
This month marks the second anniversary of the Rail Fail debacle of mass service cancellations that led to a Commission of Inquiry.
The Courier-Mail only revealed on Tuesday that Queensland Rail chief executive Nick Easy earned a $755,000 salary package last financial year – with a base pay of $666,000.
In total, the top eight QR executives were paid a combined $3.37 million.
QR’s latest annual report also revealed its staff were taking sick leave at a much higher rate than expected, with unscheduled absences running at 12.45 days per employee in 2017/18 – ahead of their target of 10.25 days.
The report also showed an external recruitment program for trainee drivers and guards only managed to hire 40 new drivers, despite attracting more than 10,000 applicants.
But the annual report showed it was able to “successfully restore services to a sustainable level” last year, as well as meet a 99.5 per cent reliability target for its 24/7 Citytrain services.
QR was also able to exceed its on-time running criteria for its Citytrain service of 95 per cent.
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