The rhetoric is not being matched by daily working reality for many APS women
The Community and Public Sector Union has warned that the increasing workload pressure on the Australian Public Service could adversely affect its female members.
The union said the push to make staff work harder risked undermining the Government’s gender equality policies.
National Secretary of the CPSU, Stephen Jones said the level of female participation in the APS made the problem increasingly important, especially as the average Commonwealth Public Servant was now a woman in her early 40s.
"Many women are attracted to public sector work because they have the perception that in Commonwealth Government employment there is the option of more flexible working arrangements," Mr Jones said.
"With decreasing staffing, increased workloads, a lot of women may start to review that situation."
He said the matter was made worse due to the staff cutbacks announced in the Budget and the across-the-board application of the increased efficiency dividend.
He said the cuts came at a time when the Public Service was already working well beyond normal working hours with some staff starting at 7am and staying to 10pm and weekend work was "more common than not."
"People are working long hours, and the talk or the rhetoric of balancing work and family responsibilities is not being matched by their daily working reality," Mr Jones said.
