Instatement manual for SUPRA council

4. Human resources and being an employer

SUPRA and SUPRA Legal Service are funded to employ 14 staff, some being employed on a part-time basis. Collectively, SUPRA Council and SUPRA Legal Service Board are the employers for all staff at the association.

The President and the Management Committee are responsible for most day-to-day staffing matters.

If council want to make any changes to SUPRA that impact staff, the Enterprise Agreement (EA) requires that staff are consulted first. This consultation takes place through the Workplace Consultative Committee (WCC).

WCC’s members include representatives from both staff and council. The procedures for this committee are occasionally updated by the committee and held on the shared server. Council member representatives do not need to be executive officers.

Who manages human resources?

Human resources (HR) is usually managed between staff coordinators and the President. Sometimes a President will delegate that duty to another member of executive, usually the Vice President.

Most HR management is either about recruitment, professional development or professional development reviews. On occasion there are more complex matters that come up like conflict management, misconduct or changes to SUPRA’s structure. The processes around these matters are addressed in a few different SUPRA policies, but the most important is the legally binding Enterprise Agreement (EA). Normally, human resource management would be the work of the President or their delegate and proper reporting to council is essential on these matters.

HR matters should be treated with confidentially and with sensitivity, and are not appropriate to be discussed publicly. Any matter relating to staff that is discussed in a council meeting must not be included in the publicly published minutes, and only councillors may be in the meeting for the discussion (this is called an in camera discussion, read Meetings for more detail).

The SUPRA Enterprise Agreement (EA)

The EA is a document that is negotiated between staff and employers (SUPRA Council) that defines staff employment conditions.

After the 2 parties have agreed on the terms, it is sent to the Fair Work Commission to be assessed and accepted as a legally binding contract between staff and employers.

If you have any concerns about a staffing matter, please speak with a staff coordinator or the President, or consult the EA as a first step.

You will find a copy of our Agreement on the SUPRA server here: smb://fs2.shared.sydney.edu.au/SUPRA/shared/Human Resources/Enterprise Agreements/2023/SUPRA Enterprise Agreement 2023 updated.pdf

Who can give directions to staff?

Only the President can give day-to-day directions to staff. SUPRA Council sets the overall direction and project goals for SUPRA, and makes high-level staff management decisions collectively. Any implementation of decisions should go through the President.

Staff need to manage workloads, and it is important to have a clear ‘chain of command’ to do this.

Of course, staff want to help councillors with any questions or projects so don’t be afraid to ask for help – staff will always help if they can.