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A Western Sydney mother of two has been told by her employer she can no longer work a family-friendly shift which allows her to collect her children from school because it is her job to “manage” her family and not her employers.
Skye Chapman has been ordered by her employer Kagan Logistics to change shifts at the Erskine Park warehouse or possibly face the sack. The company operations manager told a union representative that they have changed Mrs Chapman’s shift “because they can”.
Kagan Logistics boss Steven Hanna told the National Union Of Workers, NSW Branch (NUW) that “his job is to manage the business and the employees’ job is to manager their families.”
NUW spokesman Mark Ptolemy said that the attitude of Kagan Logistics is extremely family unfriendly and flies in the face of modern industrial laws and attitudes.
Mr Ptolemy explained, “Skye Chapman has had an afternoon shift roster since she gained her job at Kagan Logistics. She asked for the afternoon shift so she is able to gets her two kids off to school. They agreed to let her have that shift when they gave her the position. The company is now acting out of pure spite and with an old-style managerial attitude that is more suited to 1810, not 2010.”
Like many families, Skye Chapman and her husband balance their work life to attend to the needs of their children. Skye’s seven year old son has regular visits to Westmead Children’s Hospital for an ongoing eye condition. The change of shift means she will have to make other arrangements for her son.
“It isn’t a case of the company having to change the roster to suit business needs. They don’t. In fact, a colleague of Skye said he is willing to change his roster to allow her to keep her position, but the company simply refuses to listen”, Mark Ptolemy said.
The NUW has made application to Fair Work Australia (FWA) to intervene in this situation.
“Workplace laws in Australia allow for working Mums and Dads to keep some work/family balance. We feel strongly that Skye Chapman should be given an opportunity to attend to the needs of her family without fear of losing her job. Kagan Logistics management are acting in the most pig-headed and family unfriendly way simply because they feel they have the power to do so.”
Source: National Union Of Workers, NSW Branch (NUW)
If an Employer provides flexibility to their staff as well as attracting more talent it helps them keep trained, skilled people whose changing circumstances may otherwise have led them to leave. This then leads to higher retention rates of staff and increased return rates from parental leave. When an Employer holds onto its most skilled and experienced people it’s good news for all involved.
The Employer needs to wake up to themselves.
I feel sorry for Skye and her family. This employer needs to get real.
I bet that they do have a massive retention problem with staff.
This Steve Hanna sounds like a real dope.
And they say we dont need unions,this is a perfect example of why we do. A mum does add real value to a business, who else can juggle 20 things at once thats right a mum .
Shame on you Kagans.
You sound like a real anti-Australian company.