Foxtel Contracting Installer Issues

[Sidor]

< had contract cancelled, 24 hours after initial post.

just move on .... and never look back.

BSA is not a company which worth spending any time with.

BSA will get more cowboys untill boat people keep coming to

[had enuf]

under section blah blah blah of contract they said no reason was required.

[neversaydie]

under section blah blah blah of contract they said no reason was required.

Lodge an unfair dismissal application with the AIRC (Australian Industrial Relations Commission) within 21 days and please everybody do not get on here and say it can't be done because I have proved that it can.

The contracts as signed by all techs are sham contracts in law and as such all techs under contract to BSA are employees.

Lodge the complaint with the Commission and they will organise a conciliation conference at which they will have to give a reason for dismissing you.

At the Conciliation conference I had with BSA the Commissioner produced a copy of J Bailey v Allied Express Transport Pty Ltd and after asking me a series of questions in front of Leaston Paull and the solicitor for BSA, he said that according to the indicia my status was that of an employee. He also stated that this particular case had been subject to appeal and the decision had been upheld.

Go for it and you will not be sorry. (My case cost BSA a lot of money)

Good luck.

[had enuf]

now must be lodged within 14 days as of july 2009

[neversaydie]

now must be lodged within 14 days as of july 2009

get it lodged asap as they will still consider late applications if it is due to circumstances such as not being aware that you are entitled to lodge a claim due to the uncertainty of your status. Lodging a claim still allows you to withdraw it later on if you wish. But at least if you get to the conciliation stage you will get an idea of the strength of your case.

[neversaydie]

Watch for the next cash grab from BSA.

It appears that either the Payroll Tax laws have been changed or that the Office of State Revenue (OSR) have decided to enforce provisions in the Act covering independent contractors. It appears that payments made to independent contractors are now to be considered as wages of the Head contractor unless the independent contractor meets certain criteria for exemption. It appears that the way the Act is interpreted places the onus on the independent contractor to prove that they are exempt.

Here is the link http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au/taxes/payroll/general/

Rest assured that if OSR start enforcing these provisions and charge BSA payroll tax for the payments made to contractors then BSA will pass those charges on to the contractors, the current rate as from 1 July 2010 is 5.5%. According to the OSR facts sheet they regard the labour content of electricians contracts (which would be the closest comparison) as 75% which means the labour content of payments from BSA will be 4.125% (75% of 5.5%).

After reading an ad in the paper addressed to Employers regarding Payroll Tax Annual Reconciliation for 2010, I contacted the OSR and posed the question whether or not the Head contractor could legally backcharge the independent contractors for the payroll tax and interestingly she refused to answer, merely referring me to the OSR site, which does not answer the question.

So, fellas "be afraid be very afraid" because if BSA see an opportunity to gouge another 4.125% of your meagre income then they will.

[Sidor]

BSA KPI Fines, BSA sheet themselvesd just before court doors

As you would be aware the CEPU commenced legal action on behalf of subcontractor members against BSA last year over wages being withheld by BSA associated with KPI fines. As previously reported the matter was settled by Lawyers acting for BSA prior to the court hearing the matter. During the period of this litigation, BSA quite appropriately suspended all KPI fines against their subcontractors.

Since this settlement some subcontractors have been brought into meetings with BSA management and given a document drafted by lawyers for BSA .

The document states in part that the subcontractor is liable to BSA for KPI fines and by signing the BSA document the subcontractor agrees with BSA that this liability is recoverable by BSA. The BSA document further states upon signing the agreement that the subcontractor agrees that he/she can take NO further legal action on such a matter against BSA.

Subcontractors members are encouraged by the Union NOT to sign any document from BSA until obtaining advice from your Union first.

After one subcontractor member just prior to Xmas refused to sign the BSA agreement on KPI fines, alleged typical intimidation tactics were played out by BSA management that resulted in the sacking of the subcontractor member shortly thereafter.

Legal action has now commenced on behalf of this subcontractor in the Fair Work Australia Tribunal and further litigation is pending against BSA.

The CEPU has also assisted with an employment opportunity for this subcontractor member within the Telecommunications Industry by an employer who not only values their employees but treats their employees with dignity and respect.

The Union has received further claims from other subcontractor members seeking to recover wages unlawfully deducted by BSA. These further claims are currently in the hands of the CEPU legal team.

If any BSA subcontractor has had wages deducted by BSA due to KPI fines should forward the precise particulars to their claim to the CEPU Branch Assistant Secretary Shane Murphy ASAP for assessment of the claim and options to recover wages that have been unlawfully withheld.

Edited July 17, 2010 by Sidor

[neversaydie]

I have to take my hat off to BSA, they never stop trying to make life as miserable as possible for their long suffering techs.

I have just heard from another in a long line of techs who has been threatened with no work unless he is prepared to work Sundays. I am aware of a number of techs not prepared to put up with this bullying behaviour from BSA who despite enjoying the work have been forced to pull the pin in order to spend time with family and every time a good tech leaves the standard of workmanship deteriorates a little further and it is at the stage now where anybody installing Foxtel would be ashamed to admit it.

As I have stated many times the only way to fix this is through the union as each individual tech does not have the power to fix problems which are industry wide. Individuals can take BSA through the Industrial court on issues such as unfair dismissal and invariably will win, I advised a tech earlier this year on just such a matter and as usual BSA settled out of court because they know that if they proceed through the courts they will get done over. However industry problems need the collective power of all techs which means joining the union and using their muscle to bring the likes of BSA to heel. Until such time BSA will continue to wipe their feet all over their workforce.

SO MAN UP REGROW SOME BALLS AND TAKE THEM ON !!!!!!!

[monty54]

I have to take my hat off to BSA, they never stop trying to make life as miserable as possible for their long suffering techs.

I have just heard from another in a long line of techs who has been threatened with no work unless he is prepared to work Sundays. I am aware of a number of techs not prepared to put up with this bullying behaviour from BSA who despite enjoying the work have been forced to pull the pin in order to spend time with family and every time a good tech leaves the standard of workmanship deteriorates a little further and it is at the stage now where anybody installing Foxtel would be ashamed to admit it.

As I have stated many times the only way to fix this is through the union as each individual tech does not have the power to fix problems which are industry wide. Individuals can take BSA through the Industrial court on issues such as unfair dismissal and invariably will win, I advised a tech earlier this year on just such a matter and as usual BSA settled out of court because they know that if they proceed through the courts they will get done over. However industry problems need the collective power of all techs which means joining the union and using their muscle to bring the likes of BSA to heel. Until such time BSA will continue to wipe their feet all over their workforce.

SO MAN UP REGROW SOME BALLS AND TAKE THEM ON !!!!!!!

I agree with this quote and it seems to me that BSA are going about forcing you to work Sundays as we have noticed a slowdown of work in the early stages of the week eg, Tue Wed and Thurs.

This has been happening over the last 6 months.

Of course no proof except some comments from Sunday customers who have been told the only available appointment was this day which would account for bugger all work during the normal working week.

Pretty soon most techs will either , go broke ,work Sundays or move on.

As all techs know none of us knows where we are going until the night before and mostly no communication regarding workload is conveyed.

Oh and by the way... we are still awaiting news of the 3.1% CPI rise which was first put forward 3 months ago.

And this figure is the first increase since 2007....and I will bet BSA will figure out some way to get it back off us!!!!!

[Guest number761]

Management have said they are not disciminating against techs who will not work sundays, BUT, if there is work during the week preference will be given to the tech who makes himself available sundays. If that aint discimination then I'll be a gay black nazi.

[POWER AV]

Yes but what companies are any differnt to BSA, I was not paid by a certain contracting company so I waited until they gave me some more work and went on strike until I got my pay, now thay have given me no further work. There are numerous companies popping up offering installation services for major electrical retail chains, they look after the store, store mananger, store salesman and of course the contractor last. Be wary.

[neversaydie]

Management have said they are not disciminating against techs who will not work sundays, BUT, if there is work during the week preference will be given to the tech who makes himself available sundays. If that aint discimination then I'll be a gay black nazi.

What they are doing is replacing the techs who won't work Sundays.

BSA are advertising for techs in Newcastle despite the current blokes not being allocated any work and whilst everyone keeps bending over BSA will keep driving it up your posterior and the BSA attitude to their workforce is spreading. See the post from POWER AV.

The union is only a phone call away and they can quickly put a stop to this if you support them, join today and let them take up the cause for you because the only way these practices can be stopped is by using the strength which comes from everybody joining together, we become an irresistible force which is what the employer bodies fear most.

Have a look at the industries which have the best working conditions such as the mining industry, they are highly unionised and fight like hell for their members but for any union to have any pull they need the majority of workers to be members.

[neversaydie]

What they are doing is replacing the techs who won't work Sundays.

BSA are advertising for techs in Newcastle despite the current blokes not being allocated any work and whilst everyone keeps bending over BSA will keep driving it up your posterior and the BSA attitude to their workforce is spreading. See the post from POWER AV.

The union is only a phone call away and they can quickly put a stop to this if you support them, join today and let them take up the cause for you because the only way these practices can be stopped is by using the strength which comes from everybody joining together, we become an irresistible force which is what the employer bodies fear most.

Have a look at the industries which have the best working conditions such as the mining industry, they are highly unionised and fight like hell for their members but for any union to have any pull they need the majority of workers to be members.

Hi all.

If the opportunity arose what sort of conditions would you want removed from contracts and what would you wish to have included.

I have been giving the treatment of so called "independent contractors" some thought of late because I am sick and tired of the way we are treated by greedy money grabbing contractors who are continually screwing down conditions and blatantly refusing to comply with conditions written into so called "contracts", which as soon as you insist that they adhere to the terms of the contract they march you out the door.

These are some of the thoughts I have been tinkering with.

1. An Ombudsman (or something similar) to oversee the conditions of "independent contractors" in every section of the economy.

2. All contracts must be submitted to the Ombudsman to ensure that they comply with the law.

3. The power to ensure that employers do not treat contractors as employees.

4. A hotline to enable contractors to report employers who do not comply with the terms of the contract.

5. The ability to impose heavy fines on employers who do not comply.

These are just a few thoughts which I hope will prompt all of you to think seriously about what is happening to us and respond with your own ideas.

It is obvious from the number of hits on this site that there is widespread interest in installer issues but not enough of you contribute with positive ideas and now is your chance. If you are not comfortable with responding on a public forum then PM me.

[Guest number761]

What you must realise is that the likes of BSA tech 2 home etc simply starve us out of existense if you do not comply to there every wish. Dont work Sundays, simple ,they replace you . Ask for extra payments due, no way they replace you with someone more hungry and more desperate. They dont terminate you they just slow your work to such a trickle as to make it unsustainable. These bullies need to be controlled. There is only one way and that is to stand together.

The teachers do it, the mineworkers do it, the bus drivers do it even the police force do it. I have solved the communication problem and sent a list to the CEPU of every BSA working tech in Australia, so expect an email soon.

[Eddy Current]

Some very good ideas but the fly in the ointment would be the contracting companies formulating watertight contracts which legally give them the option to do anything they like. I still think public education is the best bet. The unions would be better off running ads exposing these mongrels for what they are. And it's not just BSA, Downer ATS etc there's a whole heap of rotten franchises out there that are just as bad. Fastway couriers for example.

Hi all.

If the opportunity arose what sort of conditions would you want removed from contracts and what would you wish to have included.

I have been giving the treatment of so called "independent contractors" some thought of late because I am sick and tired of the way we are treated by greedy money grabbing contractors who are continually screwing down conditions and blatantly refusing to comply with conditions written into so called "contracts", which as soon as you insist that they adhere to the terms of the contract they march you out the door.

These are some of the thoughts I have been tinkering with.

1. An Ombudsman (or something similar) to oversee the conditions of "independent contractors" in every section of the economy.

2. All contracts must be submitted to the Ombudsman to ensure that they comply with the law.

3. The power to ensure that employers do not treat contractors as employees.

4. A hotline to enable contractors to report employers who do not comply with the terms of the contract.

5. The ability to impose heavy fines on employers who do not comply.

These are just a few thoughts which I hope will prompt all of you to think seriously about what is happening to us and respond with your own ideas.

It is obvious from the number of hits on this site that there is widespread interest in installer issues but not enough of you contribute with positive ideas and now is your chance. If you are not comfortable with responding on a public forum then PM me.

[Guest number761]

EC the unions can raise public awareness, to do this they need money=membership. Do you get the picture.

[POWER AV]

Hi all.

If the opportunity arose what sort of conditions would you want removed from contracts and what would you wish to have included.

I have been giving the treatment of so called "independent contractors" some thought of late because I am sick and tired of the way we are treated by greedy money grabbing contractors who are continually screwing down conditions and blatantly refusing to comply with conditions written into so called "contracts", which as soon as you insist that they adhere to the terms of the contract they march you out the door.

These are some of the thoughts I have been tinkering with.

1. An Ombudsman (or something similar) to oversee the conditions of "independent contractors" in every section of the economy.

2. All contracts must be submitted to the Ombudsman to ensure that they comply with the law.

3. The power to ensure that employers do not treat contractors as employees.

4. A hotline to enable contractors to report employers who do not comply with the terms of the contract.

5. The ability to impose heavy fines on employers who do not comply.

These are just a few thoughts which I hope will prompt all of you to think seriously about what is happening to us and respond with your own ideas.

It is obvious from the number of hits on this site that there is widespread interest in installer issues but not enough of you contribute with positive ideas and now is your chance. If you are not comfortable with responding on a public forum then PM me.

Yep agree with all of this, I would love to work full time in the field but unfortunatley due to the constant fear of not getting paid I have to work in a factory on wages.

[Guest number761]

Rock on POWER AV, have fun in the factory, keep that attitude and we will all work in factories.

[POWER AV]

Rock on POWER AV, have fun in the factory, keep that attitude and we will all work in factories.

Well what can you say champ, $43 an hour an afternoon shift and a couple of installing jobs in the day. Got to put bread on the table.

[digitalhome]

Well what can you say champ, $43 an hour an afternoon shift and a couple of installing jobs in the day. Got to put bread on the table.

Jesus, with an hourly rate like that you can afford steak for you and the wife each day Dan!

[Frost-6]

I got a couple of mates doing Fox still in Melbourne. Ones been asked to take almost a week off, because he has another tech working for him. And the other mate is lucky to get 1 job a day, and he is a expert of it, been doing it almost 10yrs.

If you wanna work saturday or sunday thou you can do as many jobs as you like

[monty54]

And I wonder why when you call Foxtel to request a service call or cabling work and they immediately OFFER a SUNDAY.

They should be offering Monday to Friday as a standard.

Saturday and Sunday should be hit with a surcharge...which should be passed on to the contractor.

Heard from reliable sources first choice to customer is w/e or Friday/Mon and stuff the rest of the week....

Work should be patterned across the whole week not on particular days but it will come back and bite them when all you guys get enough "balls" to do something about it otherwise same ole same ole..they will ride roughshod over you as they always have to get their own way.

[BsaFoxtel99]

G'Day all !

I left BSA for a while. But still get upset with BSA management.

Anyway, as you all awared that BSA lost Terri in routing section, Alison in warehouse, some QAs and techs moved into Downer. And a recent rumour that: a communist mind "Mike Oldfield" just resigned from BSA on Wednesday. You all familiar with his congratulation to all of his comrade techs doing good jobs.

comrades:

A single mistake will desrtoy your million good jobs.

Forget a bad thing is much harder then remember million good things that you did.

[BsaFoxtel99]

G'Day all !

I left BSA for a while. But still get upset with BSA management.

Anyway, as you all awared that BSA lost Terri in routing section, Alison in warehouse, some QAs and techs moved into Downer. And a recent rumour that: a communist mind "Mike Oldfield" just resigned from BSA on Wednesday. You all familiar with his congratulation to all of his comrade techs doing good jobs.

comrades:

A single mistake will desrtoy your million good jobs.

Forget a bad thing is much harder then remember million good things that you did.

[neversaydie]

Re post #397, I am extremely disappointed with the response.

A rare opportunity has arisen to possibly get independent contractor agreements rewritten to ensure that they are fair to those who choose this method of employment. At this stage it is fairly confidential although a handful of people are aware of what I am alluding to including the union.

I have a meeting with my local MP this afternoon where I will be raising the issue and hopefully I can push it along. However I need to know what techs throughout the country want put on the agenda, I have a few ideas but I am a long way from having a monopoly on good ideas.

It is clear from the number of hits on this site that there is huge interest in what is happening in this and related industries but this interest needs to be translated into action and it is also clear that there are a lot of smart techs out there so for god's sake make a contribution.

As I have said repeatedly in the past, if you are not comfortable exercising your thoughts on a public forum then PM me and I assure you that your submissions to me will remain confidential.