depa’s awards for the Worst HR in Local Government

We decided in 2009 to provide awards to recognise the industry’s worst performance in human resources. Not just putting up the barricades to prevent flexibility and health and wellbeing provisions, for example, not just a lack of imagination in caring for parents at work, not just for being a little bit rigid-minded or totally antagonistic to the interests of employees, but something that really makes that Council stand out.

HR practices at Bankstown had been so bad over many years that in December 2005 depaNews invited members to nominate ”Is anywhere worse than Bankstown”-  in a competition with a proper prize and a great deal of interest. The response was clearly no, there isn’t.

In 2010 Bankstown won the inaugural award with no other nominations.

In 2011, from a field that included Blayney, Fairfield, Gosford, Lismore, Liverpool, Upper Hunter and Taree, Taree was the winner.

In 2012 from a field that included Gosford (again, uh oh) Nambucca, Lismore and Richmond Valley, Lismore was the winner.

In 2013, Ballina, Fairfield, Liverpool and Nambucca (again) were the finalists and the winner was Fairfield.
This history shows a couple of recidivists but no Council has ever won the award twice.

Fairfield was lucky this year not to be nominated. It has to be the only Council in the state where the GM didn’t attend the staff Christmas party last week. Still not taking responsibility, Alan? While the two directors attended, only four of the six group managers below the directors turned up to thank staff for their contribution over the year. That’s four of the nine members of the Senior Executive Team. Charming.
 

It’s in the Minister’s office but nothing’s happening. It has been:

since the Government and the Minister were appointed on 5 April 2023. We are still waiting for the legislative changes required.

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