Telstra contractors asked to take extended leave

By Anthony Caruana on Nov 29, 2010 6:24 AM
Filed under Training & Development

Barely a fortnight's notice.

Telstra contractors have been asked to take leave for a mandatory seven weeks over Christmas, after being given less than three weeks notice.

In an email titled "Vendor Comms - 3rd party labour" sent on the 22nd of November 2010 to Telstra's contracted labour partners, a form letter from Telstra's Executive Director for Procurement Ian Wheatley told contractors that Telstra "will have a reduced need for third party contract labour during the Christmas/New Year period".

All existing contractors will be forced to take leave from 13 December 2010 to 27 January 2011, with no new resources being recruited from now until February 1, 2011.

One vendor, speaking to iTnews under condition of anonymity, said that this was a "huge blow" for contractors expecting to "make mortgage payments and other living expenses.

"They need to survive with no income for two months with very little notice," he said.

The letter from Wheatley also specified that contractors who work during the stand-down without prior approval from him won't be paid.

Telstra refused to detail how many individuals would be affected.

"We will be using less contractors in this period," a Telstra spokesman said. "But it's only for this period, they are not being sacked and no customer service staff are affected".

Telstra contractors asked to take extended leave

10 comments in this discussion

"The problem with people saying you should plan for having time off is that if you have a fixed term contract people will often not realise they can be stood down for arbitrary periods even though ..."

By jmunro

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Comments: 10

laman Nov 29, 2010 11:06 AM	When you are working as a contractor, there is no guarantee for work at all time. You must save for your mortgage to cater for no work period. If the agreement between Telstra and contractors has not covered the length of notices, or has stated that Telstra only needs to give notice shorter than 3 weeks, then it is the contractor's issue, not Telstra.
NotesTracker - Tony Austin Nov 29, 2010 12:49 PM	@laman ... Quite possibly true, strictly speaking. Nevertheless undoubtedly still VERY, VERY hard for the contractors to cope with, and an extremely hard-nosed action by Telstra, particularly in the led-up to the festive season. Not at all a good reflection on Telstra executive planning and management, indeed it looks rather like a desperation move.
Ezy2Confuze Nov 29, 2010 4:37 PM	There's always an embargo period over the mid December to mid January period anyway. It's just that this year, instead of using the higher paid contractors, Telstra's doing the smart thing and using internal staff instead.
Francis Nov 29, 2010 10:31 PM	Frankly I am appalled at such action. What Telstra has done may be within the letter of the law/contract for contractors but it is not in the best interest of Telstra, the Contractors concerned or the Consumer. Employees be they contractors or otherwise have needs social and economic as well as feelings and emotions. They are not inanimate objects such as a screwdriver which is thrown into a toolbox only to be removed when it is needed. This form of employee relations, Contractor or otherwise is often counter productive. It also is poor public relations. I wonder how many people who are currently Telstra customers may change service providers due to this harsh action. For maximum productivity employers and employees must have amenable instead of a confrontational relationship. While trapped in the middle are the consumers. I hope my Telstra services do not break down during the shut down. Finally it would serve Telstra right if the majority of these people found alternative employment during the shut down period and did not return leaving Telstra in a mess of their own creating.
BrettWinterford Nov 29, 2010 11:27 PM	I should think that the third party contracting agencies themselves will be hardest hit, assuming that they (hopefully) choose to help out the contractors with other work or some monetary relief over the period. I wonder who carries the risk in the contract?
Joe Pompom Nov 30, 2010 4:56 AM	Rumour has it that a certain new project was initiated this year to cut costs. Apparently the targets weren't met. Now 1000 or so contractors are going to have a really bad Christmas so that one person can get a bonus. Mind you, this is an unsubstantiated rumour.
block Nov 30, 2010 4:12 PM	@Francis Actually that's what contractors are. They are usually used to cater for varying workloads. That means while it is busy they have work, when it is not busy they don't have work. If they don't like it they can always go permanent, mind you they may have to take a pay cut for that. If your working on contract basis you need to take the good (high pay) with the bad (forced leave near Christmas). It is bad timing, however every contractor I know plans for these sorts of times. I would assume Telstra have sufficient full time staff to cater for general faults, maintenance and support. These are likely to be purely project based contractors.
JoanB Dec 1, 2010 10:32 AM	A business conducts its activities thorughout the year based on a business plan. This includes ensuring the business has enough resource to underpin the activities in the plan. When a business suddenly decides to remove a significant chunk of its workforce how then does the business deliver it's plan? I hope Telstra Exec's remember that some of these people are also customers - or is that ex customers.
Francis Dec 1, 2010 12:31 PM	@ Block. I am disappointed at your summation of the role of a contractor. Yes contractors are employed on a casual basis to fill gaps, but there is usually some sort of agreement as to the time they will be employed so both sides have an understanding of where they are going and can plan accordingly. Your comment that if they do not like contracting they should become permanent also holds no water as many of these people have no choice and are contracting simply because they can not obtain a permanent job. In my own situation I started off on the shop floor (so to speak) and through hard work and night school rose to CEO. At times I was a contractor, not because I wanted to be one but through necessity as I had a family to support. The problem we have in Industrial Relations in this country is that we tend to treat employees as a resource to be exploited rather than an asset to be nurtured and encouraged. Frankly our attitudes to employees is different to that in many developed countries. In Germany for instance the worst insult you can give your boss is to resign and when you do you are most likely to get a please explain. Perhaps that is one of the main reasons why they are such an economic and industrial powerhouse. I know these things from working in four different countries were I experienced them first hand. As a Nation we have a lot to learn in this regard! Sorry I have seen it from both sides of the fence and I can not agree with your summation.
jmunro Dec 6, 2010 11:55 AM	The problem with people saying you should plan for having time off is that if you have a fixed term contract people will often not realise they can be stood down for arbitrary periods even though their contract covers those dates. It's important that things be transparent. Edited by jmunro: 6/12/2010 12:18:46 PM