MGT1002 Critical Thinking in Management - Case Study Assignment

The role of the Employee – Gaylen Glammer

Your name is Gaylen Glammer. You are a well-known make-up artist and hairdresser and have been working at the Penelope Pitstop salon in George Street, Sydney for around 18 months.   Penelope Pitstop is a hair and beauty salon with a difference. The company offers a narrow range of services – you only blow wave hair and apply make-up. The owner of the business is Presley Pantene. Presley’s vision is to have salons in the CBD of every capital city in Australia. Working women could come into the salon and have their hair and makeup done each day, before heading into the office. After all, looking fabulous is an important when you are climbing the corporate ladder!

Presley began by opening one store in Collins Street in Melbourne. From the first day, the business was a raging success. In fact, in the first year of operation, Presley opened 3 additional salons in the Melbourne CBD. Now Presley has 10 salons in total, operating in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. And, Presley has just decided to open a salon on the Gold Coast. In total, there are 75 permanent employees and 8 casual employees working in the salons and Head Office. You have always found Presley to be a fair, honest, trustworthy and straightforward person. You genuinely believe that Presley has the best interests of the business, and its employees, at heart.

All employees have been hired under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award (2010). You have just been called to a meeting with Presley, Lane League (an employee representative from the Hair Stylists Australia Union) and Casey Capital (an employer representative from the Victorian Chamber of Commerce). The meeting is to discuss moving to an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA). From your brief conversation with Presley, you understand that the EBA for Penelope Pitstop will be based on the existing Hair and Beauty Industry Award (2010). However, a meeting has been called to discuss changing some of the clauses in relation to hours of work; overtime and penalties; taking breaks; first aid allowance; and consultation about changes to rosters or hours of work.

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Hours or work, overtime and penalties

You understand that several managers want to open salons at 5am on weekdays. This will enable them to service more clients before the working day begins. Currently, salons open at 7am. You know that work between 5am and 7am will attract penalty rates. And, given that starting work at 5am is not generally the industry norm, and could be classified as ‘unsociable working hours’, you feel that the penalty rates are justified. However, you are open to hearing what Presley is proposing. As an aside, you heard a rumour that Presley plans to create an employee ownership program, to replace penalty rates. The thought of employees owning a part of the business excites you. But you believe that working between 5am and 7am should still attract penalty rates.

Taking breaks

Blow waving hair is hard work – it is very taxing on the arms – particularly when the client has long hair. Many of your hairdressing colleagues have commented that they are ‘worn out’ at the end of the day, having to do so many blow waves, one after the other. Their arms ache and some have taken time off work because of repetitive strain injuries. You are concerned

and think that more breaks are needed for hairdressing staff. You are in favour of allowing a 10-minute, paid break after each client. You believe Presley has a responsibility to employees to create a safe working environment, no matter what the cost.

First aid allowance

You are aware that only one employee in the George Street salon has first aid training. You were asked by your manager to obtain a first aid qualification, but you declined. You only get paid an additional 1.3% salary allowance for having a first aid qualification under the current Award. It’s too much responsibility and clearly isn’t valued by the company. You would like to see a 4% salary allowance under the proposed EBA but would be willing to negotiate down to a 2% allowance.

Consultation about changes to rosters or hours of work

Presley has mentioned to you that the arrangements for a changing the roster need some work. Under s29 of the Hair and Beauty Industry Award (2010), a roster can be changed at any time by mutual agreement between the employer and employee, or by the employer giving 48 hours’ notice to the employee in case of an emergency. You know that the manager and employees at the George Street salon are unclear about what constitutes an emergency, and whether the ‘mutual agreement’ should be in writing, or whether verbal agreement is enough. Whilst you are aware that not all eventualities can be planned for, you agree that the definition of an ‘emergency’ needs to be clarified, so it can be applied consistently across all salons. From your perspective, an emergency should be defined as something unexpected which happens suddenly, calling for immediate action. To your way of thinking, an emergency could be when a colleague has a car accident and is unable to work in the subsequent 48 hours. However, an emergency would not cover the situation where a colleague has taken time off to care for a persistently ill child. You also believe emergencies for pets should be excluded from this provision – your colleague has a sick dog and is always taking a day off, and you end up working the shift. You find it so annoying! Whilst not a deal breaker, you would love to see this provision extend to humans only! However, you will argue that amendments to the roster should be written, and that electronic messaging is acceptable if a record of the message is kept.