THAT'S RIGHT.....180 SECONDS!!!
by Tetractys Merkaba, Editor-in-Chief
The Medicare office in Parramatta in Sydney, ordered staff to take three minute toilet breaks and to write down the length of their visits.
This is typical of government agencies who think they are above the law and accountable to no-one.
Medicare comes under the federal agency, the Department of Human Services, which is rumoured to pay its staff a commission every time they removes a child from its family.
Another federal government agency, Centrelink, which is the trading name for the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency, routinely makes up its own rules when dealing with the 1 in 3 Australian's that have the unpleasant task of dealing with them.
One has to wonder if the Rudd Government asked for this 'toilet policy' to be introduced, as, a first step toward introducing such a draconian measure in all government departments.
Is it any wonder why the staff of these agencies treat the public so nastily, when they treat their own staff like this?
MANAGERS followed staff into bathrooms at a Government department after an edict limited toilet breaks to three minutes.
Employees were also told to compile diary entries of how long they spent in the loo.
The bizarre workplace crackdown by Medicare Australia was introduced at least two weeks ago at the NSW call centre in Parramatta.
Staff were said to be enraged by the productivity push, claiming it unfairly hit pregnant women and older employees.
Managers had ordered all staff to include toilet breaks in a "compliance diary", outlining the length of their visits, and threatened staff who failed to spend at least 92 per cent of their time on the phone with formal counselling and disciplinary action.
Team leaders regularly "popped in" while staff were going to the toilet to tell them they were taking too long.
Some staff were lectured for not logging a one-minute toilet trip and bosses even suggested staff use the bathroom only at certain times.
After Medicare Australia, which falls under the federal Department of Human Services, yesterday hastily scrapped the humiliating policy, the Community and Public Sector Union congratulated staff for challenging it.
"Medicare workers are relieved," said CPSU deputy national president Lisa Newman.
WORKERS at a government call centre were ordered to observe a three-minute time limit when using the toilet and keep diary entries of how long they spent in the bathroom.
Managers at Medicare Australia in Parramatta were even following staff into bathrooms to hurry them along, it was claimed yesterday.
Staff at the headquarters were "white-hot" with anger following the introduction of the draconian productivity push, claiming it unfairly targeted pregnant women and older employees.
Managers ordered all staff to fill out the length of toilet breaks in a "compliance diary", threatening staff who failed to spend 92 per cent of their time on the phone with counselling and disciplinary action.
The call centre staff, who said they felt "bullied and harassed" by the policy, outlined shocking examples of management invading their privacy.
They included team leaders regularly "popping in" while staff were going to the toilet because they were deemed to have taken too long, staff being lectured for failing to enter into a diary a one-minute toilet trip and management suggesting staff only use the bathroom at certain times.
Workers also criticised the policy because it logged time spent on work activities, including faxing and emailing customer forms, processing claims and completing other paperwork, as time spent off the phones.
Yesterday, as The Daily Telegraph began investigating complaints about the system, Medicare Australia decided to scrap the policy.
The Community and Public Sector Union congratulated staff for challenging the "one size fits all policy", saying it had failed to take into account the individual health issues of employees, not to mention privacy.
"Medicare workers are relieved that management has overturned this demeaning practise, but you have to wonder how it ever got to this stage," CPSU deputy national president Lisa Newman said.
"Every worker, no matter what their job is, deserves to be treated with dignity at work."
A spokeswoman for Medicare Australia last night denied having a policy that "specifically monitored toilet breaks".
She said staff would not be disciplined for excessive toilet use and managers had not been operating as "toilet monitors".
"A log of time away from work was only ever a local practice and never a national policy," she said.
"It is no longer in use."
