Passport Office staff told they were losing their jobs in cruel April Fool’s prank

IT was one of the cruellest April Fool’s Day office pranks around but the distressed victims have been told it’s their fault they didn’t see the funny side.

IT was one of the un-funniest April Fool’s Day pranks around but the distressed victims were told it was their fault they didn’t see the joke.

On April 1, someone at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade thought it would be a great jape to tell some of the lowest paid and most insecure staff their jobs were being sent elsewhere.

The 30 public servants in a section of the Passport Office — many contract workers and low level PS ranks — were confronted by an announcement on the office video information screen saying their jobs were being shifted to Melbourne.

For five hours the message stayed on the screen until it was finally revealed as a prank. The targets, employed at the Canberra Regional Eligibility Centre, were not impressed.

Then it got worse: news.com.au has learned the managers behind the prank told staff they “should have known it was a joke”.

But one source said: “No one found it funny and staff in that section were understandably very upset.”

The fake message didn’t help at a time when thousands of positions are being scrapped across the public sector and jitters are high.

“April Fool’s jokes are supposed to be funny,” said Community and Public Sector Union National Secretary Nadine Flood told news.com.au.

“There’s nothing funny about fake job cuts when the Government has cut 11,000 jobs for real in the last year.”

DFAT had not responded to an invitation to comment on the fake message.

Originally published as Passport Office staff told they were losing their jobs in cruel April Fool’s prank