Peninsula Grammar lays off staff amid Fair Work dispute
Staff at Melbourne private school Peninsula Grammar have been laid off following an extraordinary campus meeting just two days after a Fair Work dispute was lodged over stand-downs.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Staff at a private school in Melbourne’s southeast have been laid off just two days after a
Fair Work dispute was lodged over stand-downs.
On Wednesday, Peninsula Grammar called an extraordinary meeting of its staff to the campus, where it announced a restructure.
It’s understood about a dozen people have been made redundant across the school’s administration, marketing, property and music departments, with a final decision to be made on those positions by Friday.
It comes despite a dispute being lodged against the school in the Fair Work Commission on Monday.
That dispute, lodged by the Independent Education Union, was over 40 staff being stood down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The hearing is listed for Thursday morning.
IEU General Secretary Deb James said Peninsula Grammar had responded to a challenge over the legitimacy of 40 staff stand-downs by “attempting to ram through redundancies with almost no consultation”.
“We know that employees have legitimate work to do, particularly given that students will be back in the classroom in less than two weeks,” she said.
“This is an outrageous act being implemented with indecent haste.
“Why are these cuts being pushed through so quickly, and just now when the staff stood down have raised their concerns with the Fair Work Commission?
“This raises real questions about the values of the school — what does this punitive behaviour convey to students and the school community?”
Principal Stuart Johnston said he was unable to make a comment on the matter.
“We have not engaged third parties on this issue at this point in time out of respect for the privacy of the participants in this consultation process,” he said.
“We are regrettably not in a position to make any further comment at this point in time, but more than happy to speak on the matter once the process has been finalised.”
Requests have been made to the Fair Work Commission to amend the terms of the dispute to cover a failure to adequately consult on the redundancies, alongside the legitimacy of the decision to stand down staff.