Dear Members
I hope this finds you and all your family and friends safe and well.
As you would all be aware by now, Stage 4 restrictions and a State of Disaster has now been declared in Victoria. There is now a curfew in place between the hours of 20:00 and 05:00, with Permits required for businesses to operate, if they qualify for exemption.
Unfortunately, the rules around who is permitted and who is not is quite a grey area. Over the last two days we have attempted to gain clarification for our Industry via relevant authorities.
I note there has been a lot of misinformation and unqualified statements being distributed via social media forums et cetera. Let me say this, no one has the correct answer, as there are too many individual industries and workplaces for the Government to actually nominate and clarify. The only qualified information available is via the Department of Health and Human Services and Victorian Government website. Let me make this very clear, the Victoria Police are working under direction from DHHS and the Chief Medical Officer, they do not make the rules and have no say in what directives are given. In saying that, the Victoria Police are operating with a mind set of “common sense” approach; however, common sense is a completely subjective thought process.
The Security Industry is a permitted service; however, individually it is broken into varying descriptions, so once again the DHHS release does not cover it all. Another area is the permitting of Sole Traders to operate, this also came with a caveat from the Premier on Tuesday that “people will not be coming to cut your grass” as they do not fall under the permitted businesses. Confused yet?
A lot of talk has also been around who is classed as an “essential service” and if our industry is covered across the board. Unfortunately, from the discussions I have had and reading through some of the legislation, it appears that essential service is only classified under a State of Emergency, we have moved to a State of Disaster; which means the permitted workplaces hold this status after being “deemed permittable” by the Government.
On the point of permittable, if people are going to carry on conducting their operations throughout the next six weeks, there are certain steps you need to take:
- You must carry at all times a Work Permit signed by you and your Employer. This will cover all your personal details, what your duties are, hours you are required to work and why it cannot be done at home et cetera. If you are a sole trader, you need to sign this document as the Worker and the Employer.
- All Employers need to implement a COVID Safe Plan. This needs to be completed by Friday 7 August 2020.
- Work from home when possible.
The following websites have all the required information you need.
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/updates/coronavirus-covid-19/premiers-statement-business-restrictions
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/permitted-worker-scheme-covid-19
There are penalties in place for individuals and companies who breach the Permit Scheme requirements:
Individuals - $19,826
Businesses - $99,132
There will also be on the spot fines for breaching the Permit Scheme requirements:
Individuals - $1,652
Businesses - $9,913
I ENCOURAGE ALL MEMBERS TO THOROUGHLY READ THE DHHS DOCUMENTATION AND MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION ON IF YOU MEET THE CRITERIA.
Regards
Stephen Scahill
President