I work for the Victorian Public Sector and my position has just been declared a surplus. What are my rights? Will I be offered a Targeted Separation Package?

The declaration of a surplus of positions to departmental requirements is not to be used by the Department to deal with unsatisfactory performance or conduct, and you should not be unlawfully discriminated against for any of the following reasons:

• Part-time employment or resumption from leave;
• Use of leave for illness or injury;
• Membership or participation, or non-membership or participation, of a trade union;
• Acting in the capacity of a representative of employees;
• The filing of a workplace complaint;
• Age, breastfeeding, carer status, disability, gender identity, marital status, parental status, physical features, political belief or activity, pregnancy, race (including colour, nationality, ethnicity and ethnic origin), religious belief or activity, sex, sexual orientation, or personal association (whether as a relative or otherwise) with a person who is identified by reference to any of these attributes;
• Parental leave.

Within two weeks of the declaration of surplus positions, you will enter a three month redeployment period, where you will be offered priority status for vacant roles within the Victorian Public Service (VPS) Sector. Redeployment periods do not apply to:

• Fixed term employees, other than in exceptional circumstances;
• Casual employees;
• Executive officers;
• Employees currently in their probationary period.

If you are a fixed term or casual employee, in your probationary period or an executive officer than the VPS TSP policy may not apply to you.

Otherwise, redeployment opportunities must be exhausted prior to a Targeted Separation Package (TSP) being applied to any other employees. If the redeployment period is successful, then the TSP cannot be applied.

An employee who has not proactively participated in the redeployment process will not be eligible for a TSP, except in exceptional circumstances. If this occurs, then the redundancy provisions under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) will apply.

A TSP is a compulsory, bona fide redundancy package for taxation purposes, and notice requirements must be met with, or payment given in lieu of notice. The TSP consists of:

• 4 weeks’ pay (irrespective of employees length of service)
• 1 additional week if the employee is over 45 years of age.
• 2 weeks’ pay per year, for each continuous service year to a maximum of 10 years.

The three year prohibition on public sector work that applies to voluntary departure packages does not apply to TSP’s.

The TSP will be a bona fide redundancy package as long as there is a bona fide redundancy. This usually arises where facilities or functional areas are closing, the organisation is being wound up or the employee’s skills are no longer needed by the public service sector. If you feel that there is not a bona fide redundancy then you should seek legal advice.

** Note: this only applies to Victorian Government Employees who are covered by the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2016.**