No changes to Defined Benefit Super in restructure
In welcomed news, Telstra has today announced that all current defined benefit superannuation members will remain eligible following implementation of Telstra’s planned new corporate structure later this year.
Telstra flagged the possibility of transferring employees to subsidiaries during the last round of bargaining and members engaged in coordinated industrial action around the country to strengthen protections for pay and conditions in the event that such a scenario would play-out.
The Clause 47 protections members secured as part of that Agreement ensures that, for a transfer of employment to be deemed reasonable, an offer of employment with the new subsidiary would need to provide employees with pay and conditions no less than they would’ve received under the current Telstra EBA. This includes redundancy and superannuation benefits.
In the event that an offer did not contain these benefits, employees would be able to reject the transfer and would be treated under the redeployment and redundancy process if their work was no longer available to be performed at Telstra.
So, whilst confirmation of transfers is not expected until later this year, members can be comforted in knowing that the question as to whether they would remain eligible for defined benefit superannuation has now been answered.
We said that securing these protections in Clause 47 were a massive win for members who engaged in that action back in 2019, and that achievement bares significant fruit for the Telstra workforce with today’s announcement.
Congratulations again to members who stood up to fight for this important job security provision.
We’ll keep members updated as information about the restructure and subsidiaries becomes clearer over the coming months. In the meantime, if you require any further information, please contact your State Branch Official for assistance.
