Employers taking negative action against volunteers will be fined
Volunteers for flood emergency in New South Wales can now continue doing volunteer work without fear of losing their jobs after Premier Dominic Perrottet activated employment protections for them.
The employment protections cover volunteer workers under the following agencies:
- NSW State Emergency Service
- NSW Rural Fire Service
- Surf Life Saving NSW
- NSW Volunteer Rescue Association Inc
- Marine Rescue NSW
Volunteers under the said agencies cannot be fired by their employers or transferred to a different position if they need to be absent for volunteer work-related reason, according to the order.
"I hope this employment provision can give some comfort and security to volunteers who now know that their regular jobs are safe," said Perrottet in a statement, adding that gratitude from employers would likely mean less of them would take negative action against employees volunteering.
But should employers take negative action, they can be fined for doing so and the court can direct them to reinstate the workers who have been fired or laid off.
According to the announcement from the state government, the protection order was made under the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 and will be enforced for the next 14 days.
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Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional NSW, and Minister for Police Paul Toole said the order from Perrottet will "safeguard jobs and provide certainty" to employees that their current volunteer work would not affect their employment.
The issuance of the order seeks to let volunteers know that the government has their support, according to Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke.
"Please know we have your back. You have all done an incredible job, working long days to help our State through this crisis. As your minister, I back you in all the way and our government does as well," Cooke said.
Perrottet lauded the volunteer response in New South Wales as the state gets battered with the wet weather, flooding several areas there.
"The volunteer response in this flood emergency has been nothing short of amazing – everyone who has put their own lives on hold to help others during these floods has been a true hero," the premier said.
However, the sun won't likely be showing up anytime soon as the forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday evening said heavy rainfall should be expected across eastern NSW, with damaging winds and an additional risk from Tuesday morning.
Following the forecast, the NSW State Emergency Service warned renewed landslides and flooding, as well as already flooded rivers to rise more.
