Recently Professional Architects Australia conducted a Covid-19 survey on the effect on our members. The results of the survey have unearthed some concerning results. Professional Architects Australia, the union for architects, would like to take the opportunity to reach out to those experiencing a difficult time at their workplace and say that we are here to support you. Joining PPA can give you the assurance you need that your professional career is protected. If you aren’t a member of Professional Architects Australia be sure to join and get access to the many career services such as: Workplace advice and Support, resume reviews, insurance, industry news, community networks, professional development, contract reviews and much more.
Redundancy
5% of respondents are currently redundant due to the pandemic and over 70% have not received their redundancy packages. As a member, if you believe you have not received your due entitlements please contact our Workplace, Advice and Support team. In some cases redundancy does not need to occur and we’ve seen many cases successfully resulting in continued employment with union intervention.
Pay Cuts
Nearly 50% of respondents have had their pay cut because of the pandemic. We’ve seen some employers take this opportunity to reduce employee pay in the hope of creating an emergency fund as a plan to tackle a down-turn in business. In one case we have seen an architect offer a partial suspension of their pay to work with their employer to cover them over this pandemic.
Your rights as an Australian architect may be in violation if your employer cuts your pay without a valid reason. PAA provides its members with legal advice to ensure no violation occurs.
Hour Reduced
Of the architects that had their pay cut it was revealed that 60% did not see a reduction in the amount of hours they were working. Asking architects to provide the same level of working hours for less pay is unethical and at Professional Architects Australia we are always fighting for your rights to fair and rewarding employment.
Working from home
Employers offering a working from home solution should be provided adequate facilities to do your job effectively and 55% of architects surveyed said that they were forced to work from home and 80% were not given the tools to carry out their jobs.
Conclusion
It is unfortunate that some employers are taking advantage of the situation at the detriment of their employees. We fight for fair workplace conditions, respect and reward for our architects. PAA offer services like contract reviews and legal support to those that believe they might be being treated unfairly. We want to encourage all architects to support one another in this time of uncertainty by joining the union for architects run by architects.