PeopleMetrics Blog

More than 4000 Qantas baggage handlers and catering staff stopped work for four hours on Tuesday as part of an ongoing dispute with Qantas over pay and working conditions.

Part of the issue, according to Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon is that the airline planned to “outsource their workforce at very low rates of pay”, and that negotiations failed due to lack of “good faith”.  Employees are concerned about plans to set up subsidiaries in Asia that employ staff on lower wages and conditions.

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Thursday 15 September is National R U OK? Day.

R U OK? Day is a national mental health initiative to encourage Australians to connect with their colleagues/employees by asking them: Are you okay?

Every year more than one million Australians experience depression, anxiety or related disorders.  Research shows that approximately 7 percent of Australian employees in any organisation suffer from depression each year.

So chances are that at least one person at each workplace may be suffering from a work-related or personal issue right now.

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Australia’s Aging Workforce

The ageing of Australia’s workforce is one of businesses’ major emerging challenges.  By 2044-45 it is estimated that 25% of Australians will be aged 65 years or over, which is approximately double the present population.

Additionally, over the last decade the average age of the Australian workforce (especially the full-time workforce) has been increasing faster than the average age of the general population (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2005). 

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 Employee engagement (EE) refers to the extent to which your employees believe in the values and mission of the organisation, are committed to their work and will act in ways that further the organisation’s interests.  It integrates the well known constructs of job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

It can also be thought of as an emotional or intellectual “attachment” (positive or negative) to their role and the company. 

Engaged employees = intellectually focused and/or emotionally connected at work, actively supportive of organisational goals and willing to put more effort into their jobs (Khan, 1990).

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According to the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 2^nd September NSW Health released its final health and safety risk assessment into the August 8^th leak of the cancer causing chemical hexavalent chromium by Orica in Newcastle.  The leak is also the subject of two inquiries – one initiated by the NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell to be undertaken the former director-general of the NSW Premier’s Department and one to be commenced soon by the NSW upper house.

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