REVELATIONS that Wyndham council is hiring external parties to investigate its own staff have prompted demands for management to come clean on how much its “cloak and dagger warfare” is costing ratepayers.
As reported by the Weekly, the council confirmed it had launched as many as nine separate staff investigations since 2010, with some involving expensive external lawyers and private investigators.
But it has refused to reveal how much of ratepayers’ money was used.
In February, five parks and gardens workers were sacked after the council hired a private investigator to pose as a casual labourer and spy on them.
He allegedly photographed mis- conduct. Workers were sacked over allegations including drinking on the job.
The Australian Services Union has taken the case to the Fair Work Commission, a fight that has cost the council almost $100,000 in legal fees so far.
This followed the controversial departure of senior director Greg Aplin after an investigation into his behaviour at a council event.
He is understood to have been cleared of wrongdoing and was paid $700,000 when his post was quietly vacated in June last year.
Mark Boxsell, assistant secretary of the Australian Labor Party’s Werribee branch and a council observer, described the investigations as “cloak and dagger warfare deployed against their own people”.
“Council crossed a line when [it] started spying on [its] own workers,” he said. “No one want people to get away with rorts or misconduct, but good managers understand that these tactics are untoward and undermine the morale of the workforce.”
Mr Boxsell said the council must come clean about how much ratepayer money had been spent on investigations.
“We all have a right to judge if this is the best use of council funds,” he said.
Werribee resident Bill Strong, who regularly attends council meetings, said he supported the hiring of external parties to probe staff, but he called on management to be more transparent about the costs involved.
“I would like to see it in the budget or in some sort of formal document, and some comment from the elected councillors, too, because they’re the ones who are ultimately responsible,” he said.
Wyndham CEO Kerry Thompson said council was required to conduct investigations “to varying degrees” to provide due process in dealing with workplace issues such as bullying, alleged misconduct and occupational health and safety issues.
