What Women Want - CPSU

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the private sector, including in companies such as Telstra. The methodology is outlined at Attachment A. This comprehens
A | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

1 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Contents Foreword....................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Summary of key findings......................................................................................................................................................... 4 General demographics............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Form of employment and earnings..................................................................................................................................... 7 Hours of work.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Compensation for additional hours.............................................................................................................................10 Contact outside of work hours......................................................................................................................................12 Caring responsibilities............................................................................................................................................................13 Flexible working arrangements .........................................................................................................................................15 Work/life balance................................................................................................................................................................18 Workplace culture..............................................................................................................................................................18 Autonomy at work and job satisfaction..........................................................................................................................................................................20 Job security................................................................................................................................................................................23 Presenteeism .............................................................................................................................................................................25 Training and career development .....................................................................................................................................26 Bullying, harassment and discrimination .......................................................................................................................28 Bullying and harassment.................................................................................................................................................28 Sexual harassment.............................................................................................................................................................28 Discrimination.....................................................................................................................................................................29 Safety at work ...........................................................................................................................................................................30 Customer aggression........................................................................................................................................................30 Superannuation .......................................................................................................................................................................32 Attachment A.............................................................................................................................................................................34 Methodology.......................................................................................................................................................................34 References.............................................................................................................................................................................34 Endnotes................................................................................................................................................................................35

2 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Foreword What Women Want is the largest survey of working women in Australia and gives us important insights into the range of issues that impact women. Conducted for the eighth time, the responses from the 12,502 women who participated have again shown that being able to balance work and life is crucial for women. Access to flexible working hours is the single most important issue for working women. While women enjoy the work they do, the toll of years of budget cuts and chronic understaffing is being felt by women in their daily lives. A picture of increasing pressure and an overall decline in job satisfaction are just some of the findings in this report of the Community Public Sector Union’s most recent What Women Want survey.

balance work and life, including vigorously pushing back against the Turnbull Government’s attempts to remove essential, flexible family-friendly conditions. Thank you to the women who took the time to respond to this survey. Your answers have and will continue to directly influence the CPSU’s campaigns. Among other things, results from this survey over the years, and the actions of the CPSU, have achieved greater flexibility and access to part-time work, superannuation payments to women on unpaid parental leave and the better paid parental leave provisions. With your support, the CPSU will continue to lead the way in improving the working lives of Australian women.

The CPSU is continuing to bargain, lobby and campaign to safeguard rights at work that best enable women to

Nadine Flood CPSU National Secretary

3 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Introduction The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) is committed to providing a strong voice for our members in key public policy and political debates. To better represent our women members, the CPSU carries out a biennial What Women Want survey. The survey was conducted in 2015 for the eighth time. In 2015, 12,502 women participated in the survey, an increase from 11,209 in 2013. Survey respondents worked in the Australian Public Service (APS), Northern Territory Public Service (NTPS), Australian Capital Territory Public Service (ACTPS) and in the private sector, including in companies such as Telstra. The methodology is outlined at Attachment A. This comprehensive survey seeks women’s views on a range of issues that affect their working lives. The survey covers:

••Demographics ••Forms of employment and earnings ••Hours of work and overtime ••Caring responsibilities ••Flexible working arrangements ••The capacity to influence their work and their level of job satisfaction

••Job security ••Presenteeism ••The availability of training and career development ••Bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination ••Safety at work ••Superannuation. A brief summary of each topic area is provided at the beginning of each section. The results of the What Women Want survey inform the CPSU’s policies, campaigns and industrial strategies. The report also includes information about how the CPSU has used the findings of previous reports and outcomes we have achieved in areas of interest to women.

4 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Summary of key findings Women love the jobs they do and have long been attracted to the public service because of the ability to balance work and busy lives. However, women tell us that they are tired and the increasingly excessive hours they are working are taking a toll on their personal relationships. When this is combined with the growing encroachment of work into their non-work lives it paints a very worrying picture.

Flexible working hours matter The ability to balance work and personal/family responsibilities is important to women. This includes flexible working hours and working arrangements, as well as fair access to leave entitlements.

working excessive additional hours. This trend shows the impact of job cuts and understaffing, particularly in service delivery agencies.

Less satisfied with aspects of work

Flexible working hours was the issue that women nominated as the most important to them. Women who work part-time and have dependent children were even more likely to nominate flexible working hours as their number one issue.

Women report having less influence and are less satisfied with their work in 2015 than in 2013. Most notably, satisfaction with the amount of pay received has declined from 71 per cent to 55 per cent. This is not surprising given the Turnbull Government’s approach to bargaining.

The good news is that, at the macro-level, women are generally satisfied with their ability to access flexible working arrangements. Nearly three quarters of women reported satisfaction with access to flexible working arrangements.

These pressures are particularly pronounced for women in service delivery roles, with growing dissatisfaction about how they do their work and with the range of tasks they have to undertake.

However, there continues to be a substantial gap between broad satisfaction with work/life balance and satisfaction with access to flexible work arrangements. This suggests that issues around work/life balance go well beyond access to flexible working arrangements.

Balancing act getting harder

Increasing workloads, the requirement to work additional hours, workplace culture, time pressures, family responsibilities and unpaid domestic work are likely to be contributing to dissatisfaction with employees’ work/ life balance. These pressures have only grown since the 2013 survey. In addition, the Turnbull Government’s approach to bargaining is specifically seeking to strip away the entitlements that ensure these family-friendly conditions.

Under increasing pressure at work The survey shows increasing pressure on women to work additional hours. Nearly two thirds of full-time women are working additional hours. It has long been the case that women working at high classifications, and therefore higher income brackets, are more likely to be working longer hours. What is new is a growing group of women in service delivery roles who are

Women are feeling more pressure in all aspects of their work and women’s satisfaction with their work/life balance has declined since the last survey. Just over half of women were satisfied or very satisfied with work in 2015, compared with over 60 per cent of women in 2013.

“Just over half of women were satisfied or very satisfied with work in 2015, compared with over 60 per cent of women in 2013.” Significantly more women are saying that working additional hours causes them difficulties because they are already fatigued and overworked and that it takes a toll on personal relationships than in 2013. These pressures are affecting the health and well-being of women. Unsurprisingly an increasing number often go to work while sick because they felt “not sick enough to stay at home” and due to workload pressures. Over the past few surveys, there has been an increase in the frequency of employer contact outside of work hours.

5 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

The frequency of contact outside of work hours is also increasing. There remain workplace pressures that discourage employees from seeking to access their entitlements. These pressures can come from workplace culture. Since the last survey there has been a noticeable shift in culture with women feeling less comfortable accessing leave and that prioritising family and personal commitments will be disadvantageous to their career prospects. Combined with the disconnect between satisfaction with work/life balance and access to flexible working arrangements, these growing pressures paint a worrying picture of the work and non-work lives of women.

Growing concerns about outsourcing and casualisation Women concerned about job security increasingly identify outsourcing and casualisation as the key cause of their concern. This has grown significantly since 2013, with the fear of outsourcing disproportionately present in the APS, reflecting the government’s Contestability Programme and Budget cut announcements.

6 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

General demographics Summary 12,502 women responded to the 2015 CPSU What Women Want survey

35

54

12,502 women responded to the 2015 CPSU What Women Want survey. This is an increase on the 11,209 women who responded in 2013. As in previous surveys, the bulk of respondents were from the CPSU’s main area of membership, the Australian Public Sector (APS), however, there was a significant increase in responses from ACT government (from 518 to 1,171). Of the women who participated in the survey:

••84.2 per cent were employed in the APS (10,524). ••9.4 per cent were employed by ACT government (1,171). ••2.8 per cent were employed by the NT government (350). ••1.9 per cent were employed in private sector areas of CPSU membership (237)1.

Of the respondents, a higher number of women identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (3.8%) than the APSC figure2 of ongoing employees (2.6%). A higher number of women report having a disability (7.7%) than the APS average (3.5%)3. 69 per cent report that they live in a capital city.

Most women are aged between 35 & 54

3.8 %

47.8

%

35.6%

3.8% identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

47.8% have a bachelor’s degree qualification or higher

35.6% work in service delivery roles

Location of respondents (%)

4.8 12.7 19.9

5.5

Broadly mirroring APSC data4 on location of Commonwealth public servants, the largest group of women live in the ACT, followed by NSW and Victoria. The survey also collected the views of women employed to work in the NTPS, and this is reflected in the slightly higher response rate for the NT. Most of the women were between the ages of 35-44 years (27%) and 45-54 years (31.2%). Just one per cent or 119 women reported that they were aged 65 years and over, and three per cent said that they were aged under 25 years. The age profile of respondents again broadly reflects the demographics in the APSC State of the Service report5. One in five (20.4%) women had not completed any postschool training. A further 11.8 per cent of women held as their highest qualification an advanced diploma/diploma. Nearly half (47.8%) had a bachelor’s degree qualification or higher. This is much higher than the general population, where 27.6 per cent of women have a bachelors degree qualification or higher6. The majority of women described themselves as clerical and administrative workers (56.5%). These roles include customer service officers, customs officers, immigration officers, taxation inspectors. A further 32.2 per cent described themselves as professional (including policy analysts, legal professionals, economists, actuaries, engineers, archivists, intelligence analysts). When asked what types of work they do:

6.1

31.8 16.3 3

••35.6 per cent describe their role as service delivery. ••16.6 per cent say that their role is administrative. ••12.2 per cent report it as program and project management.

••11.9 per cent say their role is in professional services. ••7.5 per cent work in policy. ••6.7 per cent work in a regulatory setting.

7 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Form of employment and earnings Summary

72.3%

9.2

%

72.3 per cent of women worked full time

9.2 per cent of women earned less than $60,000 per annum

Most women (92.7%) reported that they were employed on a permanent, ongoing basis – either full-time or part-time. 4.6 per cent said they were employed on a temporary or non-ongoing basis and 2.2 per cent said they were casual. Most women (72.3%) worked full-time, that is 35 hours or more each week. The reminder worked part-time. This is similar to APSC data7 which records 28.5 per cent of women being employed part-time in the APS (By contrast 8.8 per cent of men employed in the APS are part-time). Of those working full-time:

••9.2 per cent of women earned less than $60,000 per annum.

••45.1 per cent of women earned between $60,000 and $80,000 per annum.

45.1

%

45.1 per cent of full time women earned between $60,000 and $80,000 per annum

There has been an increase in non-permanent employment in both the APS and the ACTPS

50%

Half of those employed on a temporary basis had more than one consecutive temporary engagement in their current position

••22.9 per cent of women earned between $80,000 and $100,000 per annum.

The most recent ABS average weekly earnings data shows that average weekly ordinary time earnings for women equate to $67,984.40 per annum8. A significant number of women working full-time in the public sector are earning below or at average weekly female earnings. Half of all part-time women (49.4%) reported their gross annual salary to be under $60,000, reflecting the parttime nature of their employment. It must be noted that for those women, their low salary level is impacting their superannuation balance at retirement among other things. Superannuation is discussed on page 47 in this report. There has been a notable increase in non-permanent employment in both the APS and the ACTPS since 2013. Non-ongoing employment increased to 3.6 per cent from 2.4 per cent in the APS while in the ACTPS, it increased from 7.9 per cent to 11.8 per cent. ‘Not directly engaged employment’ also increased from 0.2 per cent to 1.2 per cent in the ACTPS. There has also been an increase in casual employment in the APS from 0.5 per cent to 2.2 per cent. The increase in non-permanent employment is reflected in APSC Statistical Bulletin figures that show non-ongoing employees were 10.5 per cent of total APS employees, higher than at any point in the last 15 years 9.

8 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Table 1: Form of employment (2013-2015) (%)  

2013

2015

Permanent/ongoing (either full or part-time)1

96.2

92.7

Casual

0.6

2.2

Non-ongoing/temporary engagement (specified term/task)

3.0

4.6

Not directly engaged by APS (i.e. a contractor, labour hire)

0.1

0.2

A non-permanent employee is likely to be aged 25-34, working in the Australian Public Service in the Department of Services. They are likely to be working in a service delivery role and earning between $60,000 and $79,000. Half (51.4%) of those employed on a non-ongoing basis or not directly engaged had more than one temporary engagement in their current position.

••40.1 per cent had two consecutive contracts ••27.2 per cent had three consecutive contracts ••31 per cent had four or more consecutive contracts

In the past year, the APSC has tried to increase the use of contract staff in the APS through changes that make it far easier to hire non-ongoing staff that were previously retrenched or were previously ongoing without a selection process 10. This follows the Government’s recruitment freeze that limited the ability of agencies to hire11 and the APS Commissioner’s agenda to make it far easier to hire nonongoing and casual employment 12.

9 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Hours of work Summary

63.7

%

63.7 per cent of full time women work additional hours

There is increasing pressure on women to work additional hours. Nearly two thirds (63.7%) of women who work fulltime hours work additional hours13. This is a decrease from 66.2 per cent 2013. Women in professional roles (76.8%) were most likely to work additional hours. Of those full-time women who said they worked additional hours, 14.4 per cent worked 10 or more additional hours and a fifth (21.4%) worked between five and 10 additional hours. A third worked between one and less than three additional hours (34.2%) and a fifth (19%) worked between three to less than five additional hours. Table 2: Additional hours worked by full-time women (%)

The proportion of women working excessive additional hours is growing

2013

2015

< one additional hour

11.7

11

1 < 3 additional hours

35

34.2

3 < 5 additional hours

23.6

19

The majority indicated they only sometimes or never receive compensation for working extra hours.

5 < 10 additional hours

20.7

21.4

10 < 15 additional hours

6.1

7

The most common reason women were not compensated was that payment or time off was only given in certain circumstances

15+ additional hours

3

7.4

There was a significant increase in women who said the main reason they were not compensated because management expects them to work uncompensated extra hours

Two thirds said working additional hours caused or sometimes caused them personal difficulties

Two in five women have been contacted outside of work hours for work related matters in the last 6 months. Most were not compensated

The more women earn, the more likely they are to be working longer hours (Chart 1). Those earning $120,000 or more were most likely to report working additional hours (94.4%). Of those earning $120,000 or more, three in 10 (10.5%) worked 15 hours or more additional hours per week. Correspondingly, APS women working in higher classification were more likely to work longer additional hours. 12.9 per cent of EL1s and 24.5 per cent of EL2s worked 10 or more additional hours. This is a notable jump from the proportion of APS6s who worked 10 or more hours (9.8%).

10 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Compensation for additional hours

Chart 1: Additional hours by income

60

Women who worked full-time were asked if they received compensation for additional hours.

50

Two fifths (44.3%) said they always received compensation. Women who work in regulatory (59.3%) and service delivery (55.7%) roles were most likely to always get compensated for additional hours.

40

Over half (54.1%) said they were only sometimes compensated (38.9%) or never received compensation (15.2%). Women in professional (30%) and policy (30.7%) roles were least likely to always get compensated.

30

20

Chart 2: Compensation by work description

50 9

high and

40

,000

The increase in service delivery overtime is worthy of investigation. In 2013, only 3.1 per cent of those working in service delivery worked 15 or more additional hours. This increase shows the impact of job cuts and understaffing, particularly in service delivery agencies.

ical Tech n

al Con tent mak er Adm inist rativ e

sion Prof es

Regu lator y

Polic y

0

elive ry m an man d proje agem ct ent

10

ice d

Just over half (54.5%) of those earning between $60,000 and $79,999 reported working additional hours. Women earning between $60,000 and $79,999 (8.4%), however, were more likely to be working 15 or more hours than those earning between $80,000 and $99,999 (5.7%). This may be explained by the job they do and recent Budget cuts. Women working in service delivery roles are more likely to be working 15 or more additional hours (8.3%) than women in policy (4.5%). Women in regulatory (8.7%) and professional roles (9.5%) are similarly more likely to work 15 hours or more.

20

Prog ra

Less than 3 additional hours 3 to less than 10 additional hours 10 or more additional hours

30

Ser v

$120

$110

,000

- $11

9,99

9 $100

,000

- $10

9,99

,999 - $99 000 $80,

- $79 000 $60,

- $59 000 $40,

er

0

,999

60

,999

10

Always Sometimes Never

As earnings rose, women were less likely to be compensated for working additional hours (Chart 3). While fewer than a tenth (6.6%) of those earning $60,000$79,999 never received any compensation, two fifths (40.9%) of those earning $120,000 or more never received compensation for additional hours worked. Those at this higher income bracket who were compensated were likely to get some level of time off rather than payment.

11 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Chart 3: Compensation by additional hours by income

80

Always Sometimes Never

70 60 50

indicated that it did and a further half (53.7%) reported that it sometimes caused them personal difficulties. Those who reported that it caused or sometimes caused difficulties were asked what types of difficulties were caused (Table 4). The most common response was they were already fatigued and overworked (72.1%), followed by it taking a toll on personal relationships (62.1%). This is getting worse. Table 4: Types of personal difficulties working extra hours causes (%)

40

2011

2013

2015

30

I am not given sufficient notice of additional hours

6.7

7.3

13.5

20

Travel home early/late from work is difficult

34.6

35.7

41.8

10

I am already fatigued and overworked

45.7

46.7

72.1

I only get TOIL/Flex for overtime and would rather be paid

11.3

11.6

13.9

Having to reprioritise other nonwork commitments is difficult

47.5

48.6

56.7

It takes a toll on personal relationships

45.8

45.7

62.1

Caring responsibilities are difficult 35.9 to organise

28.4

44.2

It affects my health and wellbeing 2.6

2.5

5.5

high and

- $11

$120

$110

,000

,000

- $10 ,000 $100

er

9 9,99

9 9,99

,999 - $99 000 $80,

,999 - $79 000 $60,

$40,

000

- $59

,999

0

Women who did not always receive compensation were asked the main reason why they were not compensated (Table 3). The most common reason was payment or time off is only given in certain circumstances (27.3%). There was a significant increase in women who said that management expects uncompensated extra hours (22.3%). It is concerning that a culture of working uncompensated additional hours is permeating through the public sector, particularly considering the importance of work/life balance. Table 3: Main reason why not always compensated (%) 2011

2013

2015

33.5

37.2

27.3

Payment or time off is capped 10.5 (e.g. flextime accrual is capped at 37.5 hours)

10.4

8.8

I have an informal arrangement 18.9 with my supervisor/management

17.4

12.6

I don’t tell my employer

16.7

14.7

13.1

My workplace cannot afford it

2.4

2.2

2

No compensation arrangements available

3.3

4

5.7

Management expects uncompensated extra hours

3.1

5.2

22.3

Payment or time off is only given in certain circumstances (e.g. if management agrees)

Full-time women who work additional hours were asked if it caused them any personal difficulties. One in ten (10.3%)

12 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Contact outside of work hours Women were asked if they are required to be contactable outside of work hours as part of their job. Only one in ten (10.2%) said it was a requirement with a further 15.9 per cent saying sometimes. Two thirds (64.4%) said it was not a requirement. Despite that, two fifths (44.2%) have been contacted outside of work hours for work related matters in the last 6 months. There has a notable increase in contact outside of work since 2011. Table 5: Contact outside of work hours (%) 2011

2013

2015

Yes

39.1

40.8

44.2

No

60.5

58.5

55

Of those who had been contacted, nearly all (89.4%) responded or sometimes (8.1%) responded. A quarter (25.8%) responded to contact outside of work hours at least weekly. Those who are contacted outside of work hours were asked if they were paid or given time off. Fewer than one in ten (8.5%) were with a further one in ten (9.7%) sometimes compensated. Four in five (80.5%) were not paid or given time off despite the growing intrusion of work into their personal lives. Over the past few surveys, there has been an increase in the frequency of contact outside of work hours, reflecting greater demands on women. Combined with reports of fatigue and the toll on personal relationships as a result of working additional hours, it paints a worrying picture of the work and non-work lives of women. Table 6: Frequency of contact (%) 2011

2013

2015

Daily

4.2

3.5

3.6

Every couple of days

6.8

7.6

8.8

Weekly

11.2

11.5

13.4

Monthly

8.5

9.5

8.8

Occasionally

67.9

66.7

64.3

CPSU ACTION Hours of work Workloads and hours of work are issues that have been identified in every What Women Want survey. Given they are determined primarily through enterprise agreements, it is often an area of contention during bargaining. There have been attempts by the Government during the 2014-2016 round of bargaining to reduce employees’ influence over their hours of work, affecting their ability to balance work and nonwork commitments. For example, the Department of Human Services, an agency that employs 28.1% of APS women employees14, most with caring responsibilities, is looking to make big changes that affect working parents balance work and family life, including:

••There will no longer be a requirement to “genuinely negotiate” and “agree” changes to a staff member’s ordinary working hours.

•• A staff member’s pattern of hours can be changed at any time, and they can be directed to work any hours between 7am and 7pm.

••Workers will no longer be able to refuse overtime

for caring reasons and the requirement to provide reasonable notice of the requirement to work overtime will be removed from the agreement.

Similarly the Australian Taxation Office is pursing changes that will affect hours of work. It has pushed to increase working hours by 45 minutes a week or almost 5 days a year and sought total management control of working hours including expansion of rostering during the day, and no certainty for parttimers or EL Time Off In Lieu. Under the current agreements, staff and their managers negotiate sensible and predictable arrangements that recognise real-world challenges like finding and securing appropriate childcare, but the Government is trying to strip these protections out of agreements and leave workers at the mercy of managerial discretion. The CPSU will continue to campaign to defend these important conditions during this round of APS bargaining to ensure that women have reasonable hours of work and entitlements that enable work/life balance.

13 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Caring responsibilities Summary

Two in five women reported they have dependent children (under 18 years). The proportion of women with dependent children has remained constant over the life of the survey. The vast majority of those with dependent children had one (40.1%) or two (45%) dependent children. Most (95.5%) said they were the primary carer of their dependent children.

Two in five women have dependent children for whom they are the primary carer

25

%

One quarter of women care for others on a regular basis, most likely elderly parents/parents-in-law

What is changing is the proportion of women who have caring responsibilities for others. This has been steadily increasing over time. In 2015, a quarter (26.4%) of women said they had regular caring responsibilities for others. Those with caring responsibilities for others most commonly had caring responsibilities for parents/parentsin-law (58.9%). Chart 4 shows that over the past few years, the proportion of women caring for aged parents has continued to increase. Chart 4: Caring responsibilities (2011-2015) (%)

60 Women who work full time and have caring responsibilities for dependent children and others are less likely to be satisfied with their work/life balance and more likely to almost always feel rushed or pressed for time

50 40 30 20 10 0

2011

2013

2015

Children under 18 Parents/parents-in-law Adult children Partner Previous CPSU What Women Want reports have examined issues facing those with dual caring responsibilities, i.e. women with caring responsibilities for dependent children as well as others. Two fifths (42.7%) of women who regularly care for others also have dependent children. Three in five (59.7%) also work full-time. It is not a surprise

14 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

that these women are less likely to report they are satisfied with their work/life balance and more likely to say they almost always feel rushed or pressed for time (Table 7). Table 7: Women with dual caring responsibilities and work life balance (%) Full-time women with dual caring responsibilities

All women

Working overtime or extra hours causes personal difficulties

79.6

64

I almost always feel rushed or pressed for time

43.3

29.4

I often feel rushed or pressed for time

36

39.5

I am very satisfied with my current work life balance

7.6

10.2

39.2

44.4

I am satisfied with my current work life balance

Since the last survey, there have been increasing pressures which have been felt by women with dual caring responsibilities. More feel that working additional hours causes personal difficulties and there is a decline in satisfaction with current work/life balance (Table 8). Table 8: Full-time women with dual caring responsibilities (2013-15) (%) 2013

2015

73.2

79.6

37

43.3

I am very satisfied with my current work life balance

10.5

7.6

I am satisfied with my current work life balance

44.3

39.2

Working overtime or extra hours causes personal difficulties I almost always feel rushed or pressed for time

15 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Flexible working arrangements Summary 32.7%

Access to flexible working hours was identified by 32.7 per cent of women as the most important issue for them in the next twelve months Almost all women rated having flexible work hours and the ability to access leave as important or very important

Women were asked for the first time what key issue they thought should be prioritised over the next 12 months. The top five issues were:

••Access to flexible working hours (32.7%) ••Superannuation (19.2%) ••Career progression (17.1%) ••Parental leave (7.1%) ••Increased number of women in senior roles (6.9%).

Chart 5: Key issues the CPSU should focus on for women

Even though access to flexible arrangements is seen as important by almost all women, just under half only accessed leave or flexible work hours once or twice in the last twelve months Just over half agreed or strongly agreed that their current entitlements are sufficient to enable them to balance work and non-work commitments

Over two thirds said they almost always or often felt rushed or pressed for time

Just over half of women were satisfied with their work/life balance There continues to be a substantial gap between satisfaction with access to flexible work arrangements and satisfaction with work/life balance Fewer women agree that entitlements are sufficient to enable balancing work and non-work commitments than in 2013

Increased number of women in senior roles Career progression Transition to retirement Domestic violence

Superannuation Parental leave

Access to flexible working hours

Women who work part-time and have dependent children were even more likely to nominate flexible working hours as their number one issue. The importance of flexible working hours to many women is being ignored by the Turnbull Government in its current approach to APS bargaining. Entitlements such as hour for hour flex arrangements for EL staff and certainty for parttime workers are being stripped from proposed enterprise agreements, and access to leave is being reduced in the name of “streamlining”. Women’s concerns about flexible working hours are detailed in a special report Women under pressure at work which can be found on the CPSU website.

16 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Chart 6: Importance of flexible work arrangements, 2015 (%)

100 Of little importance or not important at all (%) Important or very important (%)

Chart 7: Importance of flexible work arrangements (2011-2015) (%)

100

80

80

60

40 60

20

40

0 2011

2013

2015

The ability to access leave as needed Having flexible work hours Being able to negotiate part-time work Working from home in normal working hours

Women were asked about their access to flexible work arrangements. The good news is that women who ask are generally able to access flexible working arrangements. Two thirds (67%) said they requested access to flexible working arrangements in the last 12 months and nine in ten (87.8%) had their request agreed to.

0

Those who accessed flexible arrangements were asked which entitlements they had used in the last 12 months (Table 9). Accessing leave as needed was the most commonly used regular arrangement (56.1%), followed by flexible work hours (54.2%).

H pate aving p rnity aid m leav e proaternity visio / Havi ns n addgi access tion to p al le urch ave scheased mes Wor king norm f al wrom ho orkin me i g ho n urs The opp ortu nity to jo b sh Bein are g ab le to part negot -tim iate e wo rk Havi ng fl exib le w ork h ours The abili t y leav to ac e as neecdess ed

20

Women were asked to what extent specific flexible work arrangements were important factors to them personally (Chart 7). It is very clear that for nearly all women, the ability to access leave as needed and having flexible work hours is important. As the workforce ages and caring for others grows, the ability to access other flexible provisions including access to part-time work, and the ability to work from home is becoming important to a growing proportion of women.

Even though access to flexible arrangements such as leave or flexible work hours is seen as important by almost all women, just under half only accessed leave (40.4%) or flexible work hours (36.3%) once or twice in the last twelve months. It suggests that while having the provision of flexible work arrangements is important for women, some may not have the ability to accessing those arrangements on a regular basis. This may be due to long hours of work and commitment to their job. The satisfaction with work/life balance (discussed on page 18), reflects this.

17 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Table 9: Flexible work arrangements accessed in the last 12 months (%)

Accessed leave as needed Accessed flexible work hours Negotiated part-time work Had the opportunity to job share Worked from home during normal working hours Purchased additional leave schemes Accessed paid maternity/ paternity leave provisions Accessed employer provided childcare assistance

Regularly

Once or twice (%)

No (%)

Not applicable (%)

56.1

40.4

2.4

1.1

54.2

36.3

6.4

3.1

20.9

18.5

37.1

23.5

1.4

1.2

51.1

46.3

8

13.7

51.6

26.8

7.6

6.9

64.2

21.2

4.1

2.3

48

45.6

1.1

1.5

51.9

45.5

Table 10: Flexible work arrangements accessed in the last 12 months - regularly (2011-2015) (%) 2011

2013

2015

Accessed leave as needed

59.3

64.6

56.1

Accessed flexible work hours

59.7

63.1

54.2

Negotiated part-time work

35

19.4

20.9

Had the opportunity to job share

1.9

1

1.4

Worked from home during normal working hours

7.9

6.6

8

Purchased additional leave schemes

9.2

12.7

7.6

Accessed paid maternity/ paternity leave provisions

6.5

3.6

4.1

Accessed employer provided childcare assistance

1.5

0.6

56.1

Those who had sought flexible work arrangements and had their request denied (12.2%) were asked the main reason for the denial. The three most common reasons were other operational (23.8%), staffing constraints (25.4%) and/or workload constraints (17.4%). Women were asked how satisfied they were with their ability to access flexible working arrangements in the

past twelve months. Women were generally satisfied with their ability to access flexible working arrangements with 74.3 per cent very satisfied or satisfied. This did not vary significantly across full or part-time status, whether they had dependent children or age Table 11: Satisfied with access to flexible working arrangements (2011-2015) (%) 2011

2013

2015

Very satisfied

32.6

40.8

30.6

Satisfied

43.1

40.4

43.8

Neutral

9.6

8.1

10.9

Dissatisfied

9.5

7

10

Very dissatisfied

5

3.6

4.5

Don’t know

0.2

0.1

0.2

CPSU ACTION Paid parental leave In the 2015-16 Budget, the Government proposed changes to the paid parental leave legislation, which would have the effect of reducing the entitlements for a range of new mums, including women in the public sector. The proposal was to restrict access to its 18 week paid parental leave (PPL) scheme for employees who are entitled to an employer provided PPL scheme. The current PPL scheme was designed to be complemented by more generous employer schemes to maximise the time parents could spend with their new baby. The CPSU has been part of a community and union campaign against these proposed cuts. The CPSU was a key player in this campaign, preparing submissions, engaging in parliamentary lobbying and running a social media and media campaign.

18 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Work/life balance

Workplace culture

While women are generally satisfied with their access to flexible working arrangements, their satisfaction with their ability to balance work and non-work commitments is falling and they feel more rushed and pressed for time than ever.

Women were asked their views on a range of statements focused on workplace culture (Table 14). The findings provide some insights on what may affect satisfaction with work/life balance.

Just over half of women (53.8%) agreed or strongly agreed that their current entitlements are sufficient to enable them to balance work and non-work commitments. This has decreased from 64.7 per cent in the previous survey.

Table 14: Workplace culture (%)

Women were also asked about how satisfied they were with their work/life balance. Just over half (54.6%) were satisfied or very satisfied and 23.9 per cent were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Again this is a decrease from 62.2 per cent in 2013. Table 12: Satisfied with work/life balance (2011-2015) (%) 2011

2013

2015

10.4

14.3

10.2

47

47.9

44.4

Neutral

20.8

18.5

21.1

Dissatisfied

17.6

15.7

18.8

4

3.3

5.1

0.3

0.3

0.4

Very satisfied Satisfied

Very dissatisfied Don’t know

Over two thirds (68.9%) said they almost always or often felt rushed or pressed for time. Only 4.2 per cent said they rarely or never felt pressed for time. Table 13: Time pressure frequency (2011-2015) (%) 2011

2013

2015

27.2

24.7

29.4

40

38.7

39.5

28.3

31.9

26.6

Rarely

4

3.9

3.8

Never

0.3

0.5

0.4

I prefer not to respond

0.2

0.3

0.4

Almost always Often Sometimes

While nearly three quarters (74.3%) of women reported satisfaction with access to flexible working arrangements, there continues to be a substantial gap between positive levels of satisfaction with access to flexible work arrangements (74.4%) and satisfaction with work/ life balance (54.6%). As noted in the 2013 survey, this gap suggests that issues around work/life balance go well beyond access to flexible working arrangements. Increasing workloads, the requirement to work additional hours, workplace culture, time pressures and unpaid domestic work are likely to be contributing to dissatisfaction with employees’ work/life balance.

Agree or Disagree strongly or strongly agree (%) disagree (%)

Taking time out for family and personal reasons is frowned on

27.2

48.8

Current entitlements are sufficient to enable me to balance work and non-work commitments

53.8

22.6

Employees who ‘get ahead’ work long hours on a regular basis

43.6

27.4

Employees who ‘get ahead’ take work home on a regular basis

34

29.4

Unless you put work before family or personal matters, you do not get noticed by management

40

31.3

Other employees in their workplace resent people making use of flexible work arrangements to meet family responsibilities

34

37.7

48.9

24

Employees without family responsibilities are often expected to make sacrifices for employees who have family

44

30.9

I feel comfortable taking the leave I am entitled to

58

26

I am able to take annual leave when I want to

51.6

29.1

It is easy for all employees to combine career and family

13.5

56.2

Taking time out for family reasons will disadvantage an employee’s career prospects

19 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

The results highlight that while satisfaction with access to flexible working arrangements is high, there are still workplace pressures which discourage employees from accessing their entitlements. Since the last survey, these have worsened, and it seems that the workplace culture in the APS is shifting away from being perceived as a family friendly employer. Most notably:

••An increasing number (27.2%) agree or strongly agree that taking time out for family and personal matters is frowned up. In 2013, it was 22.1 per cent.

••

There has been a significant decline in those who agree or strongly agree that entitlements are sufficient to enable balancing work and non-work commitments: from 64.7 per cent in 2013 to 53.8 per cent in 2015. The Government’s current bargaining approach which seeks to remove family friendly conditions is an obvious contributor to this growing disaffection.

••More women agreed or strongly agreed (43.6%) that

employees who ‘get ahead’ work long hours on a regular basis, compared to 2013 (39.5%).

••Two fifths (40%) of women agreed or strongly agreed that

unless you put work before family or personal matters, you don’t get noticed by management, up from a third (32.7%).

••Nearly half (48.7%) agreed or strongly agreed employees without family responsibilities are often expected to make sacrifices for employees who have family, up from two thirds (40.8%) in 2013.

••There was an increase in the number who agreed or

strongly agreed (48.7%) that taking time out for family reasons (i.e., to have a baby or care for dependents) will disadvantage an employee’s career prospects, an increase from 39.5 per cent in 2013.

••There was a notable drop in the number who agreed

or strongly agreed (60.2%) that both male and female employees are given access to work and family balance leave arrangements, down from 67.9 per cent.

••Women were less likely to agree or strongly agree (58%) they were comfortable taking the leave they were entitled to than in the previous survey (65.6%). Women were also less likely to agree or strongly agree (51.6%) they are able to take annual leave when they want to than in 2013 (62.9%).

••Unsurprisingly, fewer women agreed or strongly agreed (13.5%) that it is easy for all employees to combine career and family than in the previous survey (19.5%).

CPSU ACTION Flexible work arrangements Flexible work arrangements have been identified as a priority in the What Women Want survey and this has informed the CPSU’s response to the Government’s bargaining approach. The Turnbull Government’s bargaining policy has forced agencies to attack flexible work arrangements, part-time arrangements and work life balance measures. The CPSU continues to fight to defend these important conditions. APS agencies are seeking to water down the rights of workers to access flex time and flexible working arrangements. Proposals have included watering down part-time agreement rights and putting them into policy, with part-time employees not being eligible for overtime penalty rates unless they are directed to work outside their ordinary pattern of hours or outside the bandwidth. Agencies have also sought to remove family friendly conditions at work by stripping out contents from enterprise agreements such as commitments to be a breast feeding friendly workplace, lactation breaks and rights for workers returning from parental leave. The small number of agencies that included family violence leave in their agreements in the last round of bargaining are now being forced to remove family violence leave. The rest of the APS is being prevented from agreeing to the CPSU claim to include family violence leave in enterprise agreements. A small number of agencies have moved to include provisions in policy, but as APSC Commissioner John Lloyd has noted, rights in policy can be wound back at any time without any say from employees15, and if there is an issue with accessing rights in policy, the Fair Work Commission cannot assist as the independent umpire. In February 2016, CPSU members directly affected by a reduction in family friendly conditions assisted CPSU delegates and officials in lobbying politicians in Canberra about the need to change the unfair bargaining policy. The CPSU will continue to campaign against the stripping away of flexible work arrangements from enterprise agreements during APS bargaining and for progressive and flexible arrangements that allow people to balance being productive at work with their family and other commitments.

20 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Autonomy at work and job satisfaction

Chart 8: Aspect of job enjoyed most (%)

2015 2013

35

25 20 15 10 5

Pay

o Wor king cond ition s

rk I d The wo

men t

ility

0 Flex ib

$

Satisfaction with the amount of pay received has declined from 71 per cent to 55 per cent with many not receiving a pay rise in two years

30

The colle ague s I ha ve

Women were most likely to be satisfied with how they did their work, and least likely to be satisfied with their workload

ities

Women’s influence and satisfaction with aspects of their work is decreasing

The work envi ron

Women enjoy the work they do

Women were asked what they liked most about their job. The most common answer was the work that they do (33.6%). Given the pressures from years of budget cuts, job cuts and chronic understaffing, combined with the approach taken to bargaining by the Turnbull Government for APS employees, it is not surprising that women were less likely in 2015 to say that what they like most about their job is workplace flexibility and working conditions than in 2013 (Chart 8).

Care er op port un

Summary

Women were asked how much influence they felt they had over various aspects of their working lives. The key concern is that across all the measures, women report having less influence in 2015 than they did in 2013 (Chart 9). Increasing workloads are also talking their toll with less than two in five (38.2%) women reporting they have influence over their workload.

21 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Chart 9: A lot or some influence over work (%)

80

likely to be satisfied with how they did their work, and least likely to be satisfied with their workload. The level of respect from superiors is another area where women were likely to report low levels of satisfaction.

2015 2013

70

Chart 10: Satisfied or very satisfied with influence over aspects of work (%)

60

80

50

2015 2013

70

40

60

30

50

20

40

10

30

••Those who worked in program and project management

(48%) were most likely to say they had a lot or some influence over workload. Those in service delivery were least likely (26.4%) to say they have a lot or some influence.

••Women in content maker roles were most likely to say

they had a lot or some influence (62.3%) over the range of tasks done while those in service delivery were least likely to (30.5%).

••Women in service delivery roles were most likely to

10

ad Wor klo

task s do ne

The rang e of

pace workat which is do ne The

g ad

ditio

nal h

ours

0

Wor kin

As in previous years, women felt most able to influence how they did their jobs and, not surprisingly least able to influence their workload and for many, the range of tasks they did at work:

20

How work is do ne

ad Wor klo

task s do ne

rk is whic h wo The pace at

The rang e of

e don

ours nal h ditio g ad Wor kin

How work is do ne

0

Levels of satisfaction with influence over aspects of work have decreased since previous surveys (Chart 10). Satisfaction with the ability to control working additional hours has markedly decreased from 56.4 per cent to 49.7 per cent, as has control over workload (from 49 to 41.6 per cent). The pace at which work is done has also declined from 62.8 per cent to 55.6 per cent. It suggests increased workloads, longer hours and increased pressures to get work done on time – most of which is beyond the influence of those actually doing the job.

say they had little or no influence (59.9%) over the pace at which they worked. Those in program and project management were most likely to say they had some or a lot of influence (63.7%), closely followed by professionals (63.5%).

Those who worked in administrative roles (49.6%) were most likely to say they satisfied or very satisfied with their influence over workload. Those in service delivery were least likely to say they were satisfied or very satisfied (32.6%) with their influence.

had a lot or some influence (73.5%) over how they did their work. Those in service delivery were most likely to say they had a little or no influence (54.4%).

Women in professional roles were most likely to say they very satisfied or satisfied with influence (73.1%) over the range of tasks done while those in service delivery were least likely to (42.6%).

••Women in professional roles were most likely to say they Women were also asked how satisfied they were with various aspects of their working life. Women were most

22 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Women in service delivery roles were less likely to say they were satisfied or very satisfied with their influence (47%) over the pace at which they worked. Those in administrative roles were most likely to say they were satisfied or very satisfied with their influence (62.7%), closely followed by professionals (62.1%). Women in professional roles were most likely to be satisfied or very satisfied with their influence (67.4%) over how they did their work. Those in service delivery were most likely to say they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied (28.1%). Chart 11: Satisfied or very satisfied with aspects of work (%)

2015 2013

80

Women in policy roles were most likely to say they were satisfied or very satisfied with their level of job security (69%). Those in content maker roles were least likely to be satisfied or very satisfied (48.3%).

CPSU ACTION Workloads Budget cuts and staffing losses have increased workloads and pressures on staff. The Department of Human Services provides a good example of how these workload pressures are affecting the services provided to the community. Staffing pressures are so great that a third of all Centrelink calls are unable to enter the network, that is, callers simply hear a ‘busy’ signal.

70 60

In 2014-15, the number of blocked calls made to Centrelink was more than 22 million 16. Only 40 million of the 62 million attempts to contact Centrelink by phone were successful 17. In 2013-14, 13.7 million of 56.8 million calls made were blocked18 meaning there has been a 61 per cent increase in unanswered calls. Callers giving up after significant wait time has also increased with the proportion of calls being answered plummeting from 75 per cent in 2013-14 to 64 per cent in 2014-15 19.

50 40 30 20

The CPSU has been campaigning for the Department of Human Services to be funded properly to secure permanent employment, and ensure proper services and provided to the public.

10

achi ev fromement work

The amo pay unt of rece ived

e of Sens

Resp

ect f rom thos e ab ove

0

Women were asked about their satisfaction with aspects of their job. Across all aspects, women are less satisfied than they were in previous years. There has been a significant decline in satisfaction with the amount of pay received. This is unsurprising given many APS employees have gone without a pay rise since 2014 because of the Government’s unworkable bargaining policy. Women in professional roles (66%) were most likely to say they were satisfied or very satisfied with the sense of achievement they got from their work while those in service delivery were least likely to (50.4%). Women in policy (50.6%) were most likely to be satisfied or very satisfied with the respect they get from those above them. Those in regulatory roles (35.8%) were least likely to be very satisfied or satisfied.

23 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Job security

Reflecting previous job losses and budget pressures, satisfaction with job security has declined significantly. In 2011, 70.3 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied with their job security. In 2015, it is now 57.2 per cent.

Summary

The 2013 survey was conducted shortly after the Abbott Government was elected and implemented a staffing freeze. Since then there have been 17,300 jobs lost in the APS20. Reflecting this, women in the APS are less likely to feel very secure or secure (48.8%) than women in the ACTPS (62.3%) or NTPS (63.3%).

Concerns about outsourcing and casualisation have increased since 2013

Chart 12: How secure do you feel you feel in your job?

Women in the APS are less likely to feel secure in their job than women in the ACTPS or NTPS

Insecure

Very insecure

Very secure

The most common reasons for concern about job security was organisational restructuring

Neutral

Secure

Of the 2,412 women who reported feeling insecure in their current job, organisational restructuring was by far the most reported reason for their unease – 63.9 per cent reported this was the case. 44 per cent reported that budget cuts had led to job security concerns. The significant drop in those reporting that budget cuts is a cause of insecurity may be due to the fact that at the time of the previous survey decisions were being made about budget cuts, putting it at the fore of mind. While concerns about budget cuts may have alleviated somewhat there is a growing concern about outsourcing and casualisation. The level of concern varied depending on where women worked. For example, women working in the APS were far more likely to be concerned about outsourcing (29.7%) than those in the ACTPS (5.5%). This is likely to reflect the government’s Contestability Programme and the threat of outsourcing. Women in the APS were also more likely to be concerned about casualisation (26.5%), however, there was still also notable concern in the ACTPS (14.5%).

24 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Table 15: Reasons for concern about job security (2013-2015) (%) 2013

2015

71.8

44

71

63.9

Outsourcing

17.5

22.3

Casualisation

17.7

29.4

Personal issues

16.9

15.7

2.8

13.8

Budget cuts Organisational restructuring

Other

CPSU ACTION Insecure work Insecure work is a growing issue for all workers and the public sector has not been immune. Precarious forms of employment are increasingly being used undertake work that was previously performed by permanent, ongoing employees. In 2012, the Department of Human Services introduced casual employment for the first time. Since its introduction, the Department has largely stopped all ongoing recruitment and instead hired new staff as casuals. The introduction of the recruitment freeze in October 2013 undoubtedly provided an incentive to agencies to casualise. The impact on casually employed women in the Department and their families include the inability to plan for family and non-work commitments. The inability to plan for childcare affects their ability to get work. They are also excluded from family friendly provisions available to ongoing employees in the DHS Enterprise Agreement such as carers leave and parttime work arrangements. The CPSU has prioritised securing permanent quality jobs for those currently employed on casual contracts and ensure ongoing forms of employment are the principal mode of employment. This year, the CPSU secured mediation on the inappropriate use of casual employment in the Department of Human Services, facilitated by the Fair Work Commission. This is the first time such a process has occurred in the public service.

25 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Presenteeism Summary

Women were asked if they went to work while they were sick in the last 12 months. It continues to be concerning that nearly nine in ten (87.5%) said they went to work while sick at some point. A quarter (26.1%) who went to work while sick did so often and three fifths (61.5%) did once or twice. Fewer than one in ten (8.5%) always take sick leave. Table 16: Gone to work while sick (2013-2015) (%)

Nine in ten women have gone to work while sick in the last 12 months

25%

A quarter of women often to go to work while sick

An increasing number of women often go to work while sick

2013

2015

Yes, often

21.4

26.1

Yes, once or twice

65.1

61.5

No, never, I always take sick leave

9.4

8.5

I have not been sick in the last 12 months

3.7

3.4

There is a notable increase in the proportion of women who often go to work while sick. The increase suggests there are greater pressures on women at work. Most notable is the perception that management and colleagues place some pressure on women not to take sick leave. Confirming this, the most common reasons women went to work while sick were workload pressures (50.4%) and many felt they were sick but not sick enough to stay at home (51.5%). Table 17: Reasons for going to work while sick (2013-2015) (%) 2013

2015

Workload pressures

51.8

50.4

Not enough paid sick days remaining

15.5

14.5

Pressure from management not to take sick leave

21.4

26.2

Pressure from colleagues not to take sick leave

5

5.7

Saving sick leave to take carers’ leave

21

13.2

Taking sick leave will adversely affect their career

12

12.3

18.7

21.3

-

51.5

Onerous medical certificate requirements I was sick but not sick enough to stay at home

These findings contradict the assertions by the Public Service Commissioner about the abuse of personal/carers leave entitlements within the APS 21.

CPSU ACTION Personal and carers leave The Government’s bargaining policy has seen agencies seek to reduce personal and caring leave, which disproportionately affects women. For example, DHS sought to reduce leave from 18 days per annum, to 15 days. After an overwhelming no vote and CPSU pressure, they have agreed to maintain current personal/carers leave entitlements.

26 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Training and career development Summary

12.4%

12.4 per cent of women reported they had received no training and a further 9.4 per cent had received less than a day of training over the last 12 months

17.2%

17.2 per cent of women had applied for and been denied training

Women working in service delivery were more likely to receive training

Women place a high importance on workplace mentoring as a key way to advance their careers

When making career decisions women took into account the intellectual or professional enjoyment the role would provide

Despite 77.2 per cent of women saying that they believed management is supportive of training, fewer than a third of women (27.5%) are satisfied with their current career development opportunities. This is not surprising given that there has been limited training provided in the last year – 12.4 per cent reported that had received no training over that period, and a further 9.4 per cent had received less than a day of training. Conversely, a quarter (26.3%) of women reported that they had received five or more days of training in the last year. Those working in service delivery were more likely to receive training with over a third (36.4%) receiving five or more days training by their employer in the last 12 months. 42.4 per cent of women working in DHS service delivery roles received five or more days training, reflecting the need to ensure staff are across changes to payments. Similarly a quarter (24.8%) of those in regulatory roles received five or more days training. Those least likely to receive five or more days training worked in content maker (16.7%) and administrative (17.4%) roles. Just 17.2 per cent of women had applied for and been denied training, consistent with previous years (17% in 2013, 17.3% in 2011). For most of these women (83.9%), the training they sought was directly related to their current role. The reasons training was denied were varied but included staffing constraints (31.1%), workload constraints (29.1%) and/or budget pressures (20.8%). Fewer than one third (31.6%) of women reported that they had access to training that was not directly related to their current role – in other words, training that would advance their careers. Women were asked questions about how important various factors were in terms of achieving career advancement. Having higher positions available within their organisation was the most obvious response (73.9%). However many women (68.8%) place a high importance on workplace mentoring as a key way to advance their careers. When making career decisions women take into account a range of work and non-work factors. Some of the key nonwork factors that influence women’s decisions include:

••Their ability to interact with family (90.8% reported this as important) and friends (81.1%).

••Also important to many women (74.6%) is the social enjoyment provided by work.

••For women with dependent children, the availability

of employer provided childcare assistance was also important (49.4%), something the APSC Commissioner has specifically targeted as an entitlement that he does not believe is in line with community expectations 22.

27 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

CPSU ACTION Training and development Training and development ensures staff have the skills and knowledge to perform their duties, is an important part of career development and helps retain skilled employees. The CPSU has worked to improve training entitlements and has been able to secure guaranteed learning and development entitlements from the Department of Human Services for both rostered and non-rostered staff. Under clause H16 in the Department of Human Services Enterprise Agreement, staff are able to access at least 5 per cent of their working hours for training. The responsibilities of employees and their managers are laid out as are the training and development opportunities that are available.

28 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Bullying, harassment and discrimination Bullying and harassment

Summary

Women were asked if they had experienced bullying or harassment in the last 12 months. Three in ten (28.4%) said they did, a slight increase from 2013 (26.9%). This is higher than the 17 per cent reported in the APSC State of the Service Report 23. Those who experienced bullying or harassment were asked to describe the incident. Examples included being micromanaged, constantly changing work expectations, being yelled at and put down in front of colleagues, false claims about performance and exclusion from work discussions. Three in ten women experienced bullying or harassment in the last 12 months

2.5 %

2.5 per cent of women reported experiencing sexual harassment at work in the last 12 months

Under half (44.2%) reported the incident and of those who did, fewer than one in ten (8.8%) were satisfied with the response. A third (31.6%) were satisfied to some extent but the majority (57.2%) found the response of management to be unsatisfactory. Women were asked if they agreed or disagreed with statements about bullying and harassment (Table 18). While most women (87.9%) said they were aware of bullying and harassment policies and procedures, only a minority (27.1%) believed that complaints were dealt with quickly and appropriately. Table 18: Bullying and harassment (%)

One in five women reported experiencing discrimination at work in the last 12 months

Agree or strongly agree (%)

Disagree or strongly disagree (%)

I am fully aware of bullying and harassment policies and procedures at my workplace

87.9

4.3

Complaints regarding bullying and harassment are dealt with quickly and appropriately by management

27.1

32.2

Adequate training on bullying and harassment is provided by my workplace

47.1

26.5

Management places importance on eliminating bullying and harassment from the workplace

42.7

29

Sexual harassment Fewer than three per cent of women reported experiencing sexual harassment at work in the last 12 months. Of those, only a quarter (26.8%) reported the incident. A fifth (18.8%) of those who did report were satisfied with the response of

29 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

management. A third (34.4%) were satisfied to some extent and nearly half (45.3%) were not. Women who reported being sexually harassed told of a range of unwelcome behaviours. While the number of incidences of sexual harassment was relatively small, some of the allegations are very concerning: I have been harassed by a senior officer who also used to think it was ok to kiss my neck and to massage my shoulders while I was in my chair at my desk. After work drinks I was waiting for a friend who was picking me up. My National Manager insisted on walking me out the front of the club work drinks were at, and then he tried forcibly to kiss me. Even though I said no he kept trying. A male SES (who I don’t report to) continually stared at my chest every time he saw me. It was very obvious and made me feel very uncomfortable. My colleagues and staff also noticed this behaviour and commented on it to me. Women were asked if they agreed or disagreed with statements about sexual harassment (Table 19). While most women (87.9%) said they were aware of policies and procedures, only a minority (31%) believed that complaints were dealt with quickly and appropriately. Table 19: Sexual harassment (%) Agree or strongly agree (%)

I am fully aware of sexual harassment policies and procedures at my workplace

78

Complaints regarding sexual harassment are dealt with quickly and appropriately by management

31

Adequate training on sexual harassment is provided by my workplace

40.6

Management places importance on eliminating sexual harassment from the workplace

44.5

Disagree or strongly disagree (%)

8.5

The types of discrimination women experienced included discrimination on the basis of race, age, sexuality, disability, caring responsibilities and on the basis of pregnancy. Some of the comments from women included: Discrimination against people with a disability is rife throughout the public service. People make a judgement on whether you can do a job just by the way you look without giving you a chance. There is also age discrimination, particularly for women. If you are a woman over 40 you are seen as have little value. If you are a woman over 40 with a disability, forget about promotion unless you can work twice as hard as anyone else. I have been treated differently and warned about the inherit risk to projects in Africa due to my sexual orientation. The then project manager went as far as to describe my sexual orientation as a risk to the project. Discrimination against working mothers is common in this Department. Opportunities are denied, particularly if you work part-time. Several managers (male) have said to me that they find it difficult to manage part-timers and don’t want them on their team. Working from home is frowned upon if you are a mother - the assumption being that you will not be working. Women were asked if they agreed or disagreed with statements about discrimination (Table 20). Most women (78.7%) said they were aware of policies and procedures but less than a third (30.5%) believed that complaints were dealt with quickly and appropriately. Table 20: Discrimination (%) Agree or strongly agree (%)

6.5

24.5

10.8

Discrimination Twenty per cent of women reported experiencing discrimination at work in the last 12 months, an increase from 17.4 per cent in 2013. Of those, only a fifth (19.5%) reported the incident. Only a tenth (7.3%) of those who reported were satisfied with the response by management. A third (30.5%) were satisfied to some extent and three fifths (60%) were not.

Disagree or strongly disagree (%)

I am fully aware of discrimination policies and procedures at my workplace

78.7

7.5

Complaints regarding discrimination are dealt with quickly and appropriately by management

30.5

14.4

Adequate training on discrimination is provided by my workplace

46.2

21.4

Management places importance on eliminating discrimination from the workplace

44.5

16.3

Whilst What Women Want surveys have consistently shown widespread awareness about policies and procedures, in relation to various forms of harassment and discrimination, much more needs to be done to ensure employees are confident reporting incidents and appropriate action is taken to address complaints.

30 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Safety at work Summary

Most women felt extremely safe or safe at work

Most women (81.9%) said they felt extremely safe or safe at work. Only 4.7 per cent felt unsafe or not safe at all. This is an improvement since the last survey (73.3%). Women at the Department of Human Services were less likely to say they felt extremely safe or safe (75.6%), which is not surprising given the levels of customer aggression their workers experience. Women were asked if they had any safety concerns in the workplace. A fifth (15.4%) said they had safety concerns and of those, two thirds (63.5%) reported their concerns. Most (55.9%) were not happy with the response when they had raised a safety concern with a third (34.6%) happy to some extent.

Customer aggression

Two in five women have experienced customer aggression in the last 12 months

Women were asked if they had experienced customer aggression at work in the last twelve months (Chart 13). Two in five (44.3%) had experienced customer aggression, up from 37 per cent in 2013. Unsurprisingly, those working in service delivery were most likely to have experienced customer aggression with two thirds (67.7%, up from 66.7% in 2013) saying that had in the last 12 months, followed by those in regulatory roles (49.3%, up from 40% in 2013). Chart 13: Customer aggression (2013-2015) (%)

Women in service delivery roles were most likely to have experienced customer aggression

50

2015 2013

40 Verbal aggression over the telephone was the most common form of customer aggression

30

20

10

0 Verbal aggression over the telephone was the most common form of customer aggression followed by face-to-face verbal aggression (Table 21). Women also experienced written and online aggression while a small percentage experienced physical aggression.

31 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Table 21: Customer aggression experienced (2013-2015) (%) 2013

2015

Verbal (telephonic)

74.9

72.1

Verbal (face-to-face)

38.8

41.3

Online, email

--

15.4

Written

2.7

8.3

Physical

3.3

3.2

Women at the Department of Human Services were most likely to experience customer aggression in the APS. Three in five women (59.5%) at the Department of Human Services experienced customer aggression in the last 12 months. The most common form of customer aggression experienced was verbal aggression over the telephone (71.4%). Customer aggression is an increasing problem at the DHS. Lengthy waiting times both on the phone and in DHS offices have contributed to increased customer aggression against DHS employees. In the 11 months until the end of May 2015, the number of aggressive incidents directed at Centrelink staff rose to 24 a day from 20 a day in 2012-13, up 20 per cent24. There has also been an increase in the number of Centrelink customers who have had service restrictions imposed upon them because of aggressive behaviour. There were 776 people on some kind of service restriction in 2012-2013 and this jumped to 998, or up 29 per cent, in 2014-2015. In previous What Women Want reports, the CPSU raised concerns that further cuts could expose DHS employees to further customer aggression. It is unfortunate that this has come to fruition. Greater investment and improved staffing levels, in DHS in particular, must be part of the solution.

CPSU ACTION Customer aggression Ensuring a safe workforce is an important issue for many CPSU members. Everyone has the right to work in a safe and respectful environment. For those working in service delivery, this unfortunately does not always occur. A survey of DHS employees working in customer service areas in 2015 revealed that customer aggression is a regular experience. There has been no improvement to this issue for many years. The CPSU has formed a joint customer aggression committee with the Department and is working with Health and Safety Representatives to identify changes to office layouts, work practices, response procedures and identify new ways to engage the community to ensure zero tolerance of customer aggression. The CPSU has also campaigned for greater investment in staffing as part of the answer to address the frustration of many customers who cannot easily access the services they need.

32 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Superannuation

Superannuation is an important issue for CPSU members. It was the second most (19.2%) important issue that women felt should be prioritised over the next twelve months. Women were asked a range of questions about superannuation including whether they knew the type of scheme they belonged to. 25.7 per cent of women reported having an accumulation fund, 26.6 per cent were part of a defined benefits scheme and 7.3 per cent had both.

Summary Over a third of women do not know what type of superannuation scheme they belong to

One in five do not know how much money they have in their superannuation

Over two in five made their own additional super contributions. The most common reason for not putting in additional contributions was that women cannot afford to put extra money in

Over half of women had never been to any information/training sessions about superannuation

The last defined benefit scheme in the APS closed to new members on 30 June 2005. It is not surprising therefore that younger women were not members of a defined benefit scheme – just 5.8 per cent of those aged 25-34 years reported they were in a defined benefit scheme. This compares with 36.5 per cent of women aged 45-54 years and 37.2 per cent of those aged 55-59 years. There is a substantial group of women who do not know about their superannuation scheme. Two in five (37.3%) did not know what type of scheme they were in and 19.3 per cent did not know how much they held in their superannuation. There were, however, significant differences between age groups. As expected, younger women were less likely to know what type of scheme they were in, while older women were more likely to identify their scheme type. That said, it is of significant concern that even among the older cohort, the level of basic understanding was low – 32.2 per cent of 45-54 year olds, 23.1 per cent of 55-59 year olds and 22.9 per cent of 60-64 year olds could not identify their scheme type. The assumption that women do not really consider superannuation until their mid-forties is supported by responses to the question of super account balances. Overall, a fifth (19.3%) of women did not know how much they currently had in superannuation. More than a third (34.9%) of those aged 20-24 years did not know their balances, while just 9.4 per cent and 5.2 per cent of those aged 45-54 years and 55-59 years respectively did not have an idea of their current super balance. This suggests that there needs to be better early education about superannuation, particularly given the higher relative value of early investments in super due to compounding. Chart 14 shows the amounts of super held by women, by age. The Chart clearly shows when women begin to draw down their super, with the dip from 55 years a result of the 54/11 advantage in the defined benefit scheme of taking superannuation before the age of 55 years. The Chart also shows that many women, even in the APS where the employer superannuation contribution is 15.4 per cent, do not have sufficient savings to ensure a comfortable retirement.

33 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Chart 14: Amount of superannuation by age (%)

40

The vast majority (81.3%) do not actively manage their own superannuation accounts. Only 14.8 per cent said they did – there was no difference between age groups in terms of account management activity.

20-34 35-54 55-64 65+

35

Two in five (39.2%) said they had more than one superannuation account. Those who had more than one account were asked the main reason why they had more than one account (Table 23).

30 25

Table 23: Reasons for having more than one superannuation account (%)

20

2015

Because I have not had a chance to combine my funds

15 10 5 0

Less than $50,000

$50,001 $150,000

$150,001 $250,000

More than $250,000

Women were asked if they put any of their own money into superannuation, in addition to the employer contribution. 44.5 per cent said they made their own contribution. However, it must be noted that those in defined benefit funds in some cases are required to contribute, and there is an incentive to contribute to maximise the final outcome. Of those in an accumulation fund, only one in three contributed additional amounts. Of those who did, only a third (36.4%) salary sacrificed and half (52.2%) made post-tax contributions. Five per cent made both pre and post tax contributions. Those who did not put any of their own money into superannuation were asked why (Table 22). The most common reason was that they could not afford to put in extra money (47.2%). Table 22: Reasons for not putting own money into superannuation (%) 2015

I can’t make extra contributions in my defined benefit fund

7.3

My employer contribution is enough

12.2

I would rather spend the money now

9.4

I would rather pay off my mortgage

35.7

I cannot afford to put extra money in

47.2

I would rather invest the money myself

5.8

It does not make financial sense

4.2

I don’t know how to/it is complicated/difficult

10.3

I am planning to, but it is not a priority

21.6

32.4

Because I want to be able to salary sacrifice

8.8

Because I have two jobs

3.1

Because I also have a self managed fund

4.2

I choose to

14.8

Because I don’t know how/it is too difficult/ complicated to change

11.4

Other reasons

15.3

I am in the process of rolling over my funds

8.8

A majority (55.2%) said they had never been to any information/training sessions about superannuation. Three in five (60.4%) said they had never seen a financial planner about superannuation or retirement.

CPSU ACTION Superannuation Superannuation is clearly an issue of importance to women, as demonstrated by the survey findings (19.7 per cent of women said it was the key issue for them in the next 12 months). In the APS, the CPSU successfully campaigned to guarantee an employer contribution rate of 15.4 per cent, after Government initially sought to remove this from enterprise agreements. Given that women already lag behind men in terms of superannuation balances, its very important for women in particular that the higher contribution rate is guaranteed. The CPSU also has used superannuation data from the What Women Want survey in public advocacy. The Senate Economics References Committee has recently examined the issue of economic security for women in retirement. The CPSU appeared before the inquiry to give evidence about the priorities for women and the inadequacy of their superannuation. The CPSU will continue to actively campaign to ensure the best outcome for women in retirement.

34 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Attachment A Methodology The 2015 CPSU What Women Want Survey was launched online on 26 October 2015 and was open for participants to complete for four weeks, closing on 27 November 2015. The survey was hosted online by WebSurveyCreator. Invitations to complete the survey were sent via email to all CPSU women members and other employees who have asked to received CPSU material. The initial invitations were staged over the first three days of the survey. The first invitations were sent out on 26 October to 32,143 women and a second batch was sent on the 28 October to 7,533 women. 1,018 women in the Department of Social Services were sent invitations on 4 November after the initial email invitations were blocked. In addition to initial email invitations, a number of reminders were sent out over the course of the survey. These included CPSU E-Newsletters sent to all women members, email reminders sent to all women members on 10 & 24 November, ACT Government sent out an email to all staff and the Department of Human Services placed it on their intranet system. A link and banner was also posted on the CPSU website for the duration of the survey. The total number of women the CPSU emailed and asked to participate in the CPSU What Women Want survey in 2015 was 57,323. This figure does not include emails sent out by agencies to their employees. A total of 12,502 responses to the survey were received, an overall response rate of 21.8 per cent.

References Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015) Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, May 2015 Australian National Audit Office (2015), Audit Report No.37: Management of Smart Centres’ Centrelink Telephone Services Australian Government (2015), 2015-16 Budget Paper No.4: Agency Resourcing Australian Public Service Commission (2015), State of the Service Report 2014-15 Australian Public Service Commission (2015) APS Statistical Bulletin 2014-15 Australian Public Service Employment Database (APSED)

35 | What Women Want 2015/16 Survey Report

Endnotes 1.

220 women did not indicate their employer

2.

Australian Public Service Commission (2015), State of the Service Report 2014–15, p.20

3.

Australian Public Service Commission (2015), State of the Service Report 2014–15, p.20

4.

Data from APSED, 30 June 2015

5.

Noting however that the APSC age ranges span different years than the WWW survey http://www.apsc.gov.au/about-the-apsc/ parliamentary/state-of-the-service/state-of-the-service-report-2014-15/section-1-aps-at-a-glance

6.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, 62270DO013_201505 Education and Work, Australia, May 2015, Table 1_8, November 2015

7.

Data from APSEDii, 30 June 2015 https://analytics.ssc.gov.au/SASVisualAnalyticsViewer/VisualAnalyticsViewer_guest. jsp?reportPath=/Visual+Analytics/1.Projects/Public/APSC/APSEDii/1.Published/&reportName=APSEDiiJuneData_2015_ PublicProd&appSwitcherDisabled=true&commentsEnabled=false&reportViewOnly=true

8.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015) Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, May 2015, Cat No 6302, Table 10D. Average Weekly Earnings, Industry, Australia (Dollars) - Original - Females, Full-time Adult Ordinary Time Earnings

9.

Australian Public Service Commission (2015), APS Statistical Bulletin Table 1 : All employees: sex by employment category, 30 June 2001 to 30 June 2015, http://www.apsc.gov.au/about-the-apsc/parliamentary/aps-statistical-bulletin/statistics-2015/all-staff/table1

10. Australian Public Service Commission, Circular 2015/7: Amendments to the Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 2013 (2015 Measures No. 2), 1 December 2015, http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/circulars-and-advices/2015/circular-20157amendments-to-the-australian-public-service-commissioners-directions-2013 11. Australian Public Service Commission (2015), Staffing arrangements for the Australian Public Service, 7 August 2015, http://www.apsc.gov. au/publications-and-media/current-publications/interim-recruitment-arrangements 12. John Lloyd, The Institute of Internal Auditors: Public Sector Internal Audit Conference - “Building a Strong and High Performing Public Service”, 30 July 2015, http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/speeches/2015/the-institute-of-internal-auditors-public-sectorinternal-audit-conference-building-a-strong-and-high-performing-public-service 13. The variation in hours worked by part-time women meant it was not possible to accurately calculate their additional hours. 14. Australian Public Service Commission, APS Statistical Bulletin, Table 2: All employees: agency by employment status, sex and employment category, 30 June 2015 15. Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, Estimates – Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio - Australian Public Service Commission, 8 February 2016 16. Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Estimates – Social Services Portfolio – Department of Human Services, 22 October 2015 17. Australian National Audit Office (2015), Audit Report No.37: Management of Smart Centres’ Centrelink Telephone Services, 19 May 2015, p.14 18. Australian National Audit Office (2015), Audit Report No.37: Management of Smart Centres’ Centrelink Telephone Services, 19 May 2015, p.81 19. Senator the Hon Doug Cameron, Minister in Denial over drop in Centrelink service standards, 1 February 2016, http://www.dougcameron. com.au/press_releases 20. Australian Government (2015), 2015-16 Budget Paper No.4: Agency Resourcing, May 2015, http://www.budget.gov.au/2015-16/content/ bp4/html/bp4_part_02.htm 21. Phillip Thomson, Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd on the attack: launches into underperformers, red tape and leak, Canberra Times, 11 March 2015, http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/public-service-commissioner-john-lloyd-on-the-attacklaunches-into-underperformers-red-tape-and-leak-20150310-140p87.html 22. John Lloyd, Union tactics deny public servants increments they deserve, The Australian, 19 February 2016, http://www.theaustralian.com. au/opinion/union-tactics-deny-public-servants-increments-they-deserve/news-story/ecc917dfc37993c6111950913e156ca6 23. Australian Public Service Commission (2015), State of the Service Report 2014-15, p.50 24. Marie Sansom, Centrelink staff deal with 24 aggressive incidents a day, GovernmentNews, 31 August 2015 , http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2015/08/centrelink-staff-deal-with-24-aggressive-incidents-a-day/

cpsu.org.au facebook.com/CPSUnion twitter.com/CPSUnion instagram.com/CPSUnion Authorised by CPSU National Secretary, Nadine Flood, March 2016