Australian Clinical Labs has today provided staff working in its Geelong Metro operations with a formal proposal to reorganise its local pathology service.
The proposed change plan recommends a reduction in some positions across laboratory departments and in some administrative teams. The initial staff consultation and feedback process ends Thursday 17th January. This provides staff two working weeks to consider the details of the plan; understand how the proposed changes affect their department and role; and to discuss their options and provide written feedback. The overall change process ends on Friday 1st February 2019.
The proposed changes seek to achieve three key business imperatives:
1. Meet the changing pathology needs of the Geelong community by sending some non-urgent, community pathology tests to the main State lab in Clayton, enabling local resources to focus on the increasing volumes of urgent pathology tests from hospitals and referring doctors in public and private practice.
2. Remove duplicated administration services to lower the operational cost of these services following the acquisition of the St John of God Pathology service in Geelong, on Monday 10th October 2016.
3. Create a sustainable pathology service in Geelong: maintain the current high quality service, operate a more focused and efficient service and continue to employ local people.
The company is now meeting with all Geelong metro staff to outline the reasons for the proposed change, answer their initial questions and seek early feedback on the plan to reorganise the local pathology service.
Following today’s meeting and over the coming days, the Geelong management team will facilitate discussions with each staff member one-on-one to detail how the proposed changes may impact their role.
Clinical Labs understands that people can experience workplace changes as confronting and difficult, and as such, will offer all Geelong staff access to free and confidential counselling services throughout the proposed change process.
While the specifics of the proposed change plan will remain confidential during the consultation period, at a high level the proposed plan does adhere with current EBA arrangements and seeks to minimise potential negative impacts on staff through:
- redeployment to other Clinical Labs sites;
- preference given to Geelong staff who qualify for national job vacancies;
- voluntary redundancies;
- outplacement services and time off to attend interviews; and
- fair and reasonable severance packages for those who do not qualify for some of these options or who decide to leave the organisation.
Clinical Labs will notify a range of important stakeholders about the decision to proceed with the proposed change plan in Geelong, including its referring medical practitioners and other clients, regulatory and accreditation agencies, government representatives and the relevant unions.
No further information will be shared publicly until the consultation period ends; Clinical Labs has an agreed final change plan; and has shared this with all Geelong staff.