This page has been created to host information relating to a change in how employees view and accept variations to their employment conditions at Benetas.
This change is comming over two periods:
- Period 1, on 2 December for employees in Retirement Living, employees in the Blackburn Customer Centre, and employees located at the Hawthorn Support Office.
- Period 2 for employees in Residential Services, and Community Health and Care - date to be confirmed. More information to come soon.
Change to the Employee Variation Process
As part of our ongoing commitment to continous improvement, we are updating our employment variation process. This is the process where a change is requested to your employment conditions which may result in a new employment contract or an addendum to your existing contract.
Some examples of an employee variation include:
- Changing from being a casual employee to being part time
- Increasing your pay rate because you have a new qualification
- Increasing or decreasing your part time hours
- Acting temporarily in someone else's position (Higher Duties)
- Changing Roster Pattern
See the FAQ's at the bottom of the page for more examples.
How does this affect me?
Previously you would have received an email with an attachment of a new employment contract or an Addendum Letter to your Benetas email address. Alternatively, for a roster pattern change you would have signed the roster pattern change form.
In the new change, you will receive your employment documents directly to your personal email address. The email will include a secure link to a dedicated portal where you can review and accept or decline the variation changes. This new process makes accessing and reviewing your documents easier than ever before, and you will have ongoing access to the documents in your own account.
If you have recently started employment with Benetas, you would have experienced a similar process when you accepted your employment contract.
What happens next?
You will continue to receive communications, including an announcement when a 'go live' date is confirmed for the Period 2 change that will affect Residential Services and Community Health and Care.
Depending on your work area, this may be an email, a physical poster at your work locatoin, or information from your direct line manager.
For any concerns or questions, please speak to your line manager or Emily Anderson from the People, Culture and Diversity Team at emily.anderson@benetas.com.au
The New Process
Below is an overview of the steps in the new process, and how you can expect to receive and view information that relates to variations in your employment conditions at Benetas.
Step 1
Employee and line manager come to a verbal agreement on the change.
The line manager or administrative assistant submits the online form for approval, detailing the agreed information.
The form is approved, and is sent to the Human Resources (HR) Team to be actioned.
Step 2
The employee may be required to provide more information, documents, or complete additional checks such as a Police Check.
The employee and the line manager will receive a call, and an email from the HR team if required.
Email communications will be to the personal email address of the employee.
Step 3
The employee receives a new employment contract or an Addendum to their employment contract. This will depend on what information is varying.
This is sent via an email to the employee's personal email address.
The manager will receive a copy of the documents for their reference.
Step 4
The employee clicks on a link in the email, and views the documents within their own secure portal.
The document is accepted, and the line manager and HR are notified.
The Payroll Department receives the information to make the change to your next applicable pay period.
Frequently Asked Questions
New Employment Contract
A new employment contract may be used where your overarching employment conditions are significantly changing. Where a new employment contract is issued, your previous employment contract will no longer be active.
Examples where a new employment contract may be issued:
- Changing employment status, for example Temporary to Permanent
- Changing employment status from Casual to Part Time; from Part Time to Full Time; from Full Time to Part Time, etc
- Permanent changes to a position from a promotion or internal transfer. For example from a Marketing Officer to a Senior Marketing Advisor, moving from working as a Personal Care Worker to working as a Registered Nurse
Addendum to an Employment Contract
An Addendum may be used where your employment conditions are being modified in a minor way. The addendum is used to supplement your current employment contract.
Examples where an addendum may be issued:
- Changes to your annual salary or hourly rate for Non-Award employees
- Changes to your classification, within the same Enterprise Agreement
- Temporarily acting in another role (secondment or higher duties)
- Adding / removing an allowance or deduction
- Increasing or decreasing your part time hours, while staying within a part time employment status.
- Changing your roster pattern
If you still have questions, you can contact our Human Resources Team on 8803 9484 or hrenquiries@benetas.com.au
If you are noticing any issues in your pay, or have any questions, you can contact the payroll team directly at payrollenquiries@benetas.com.au or 03 8823 7900.
You can access any of your documents through your applicant portal, link here.
If you are on our Careers Page (link here), there is a button at the top right hand side that says "My Profile" If you click on My Profile, there will then be a button to go to the Applicant Portal.
After you are in the Applicant Portal, click on View Application for the required position, and your documents will be in there.
For Employment Contracts or Addendum Letters issued prior to June 2024, you may need to contact the Benetas Human Resources Department throgh hrenquiries@benetas.com.au
The variations form can be completed by a line manager, or a Residential Services CSO, or an Executive Assistant.
The Variation form will be the details of the verbal agreement between the employee and the line manager.
Operational areas have a higher number of variations, and often have shorter turn around times.
Noting that 2024 has seen a significant amount of changes for our operational areas already, the release to operations has been moved to 2025.
As Support Office, Blackburn Centre and Retirement living have fewer variations instances, releasing in 2024 means that we can start to see some benefits coming through, and also allows for real scenario testing prior to releasing to operational areas with a higher frequency.
Communications will be a mix of email, newsletters, and presentations at meetings for Leadership positions.
Front line employees will receive an email, as well as physical notices such as posters within their work spaces. This webpage has also been created and can be accessed through links in different communications, and QR codes on posters.
Additionally, we request support from line managers to discuss the upcoming change with their teams, and support and resources will be provided for this.
Prior to the new document being sent out to you, you will receive an email letting you know what will be coming and what to do when you receive it.
You will be sent the final document to review.
An Addendum will generally be only 1-2 pages in length, and will specify at the top of the document that it is a Contract Addendum.
An Employment Contract is generally 4+ pages in length and will specify at the top of the document that it is an Employment Contract.
The Addendum or Employment Contract should be reviewed and actioned as soon as possible.
We are not able to process the requested change until your acceptance of the change has been received.
If there is a delay in accepting, it may mean that we have to change the date the change can be effective from.
An automatic reminder will be sent to you 48 hours after the addendum or contract is issued.
A member of the HR team, or your line manager may follow up after this period.
There will be an accept button and a decline button available to you.
You do not have to accept the document if you do not agree with the terms outlined within the document or referenced to.
We encourage you to contact your line manager, or a member of the HR team prior to declining the documents.
