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Current Office Hours Summary

From Monday, 14 March 2016 the Office Hours will be:

• Office Open Tuesday, Wednesday (WendyPepper) and Friday (HeatherHon) 9:30am - 3:00pm ( 30 minute lunch break, 1:00-1:30pm)

• Office Open Monday and Thursday (HeatherHon) 9.30am - 5:00pm (30 minute lunch break, 1:00-1:30pm).

Office Hours and Office Manager/ Church Office Administrator and Office Assistant (Casual) Appointments – Trial to end of June 2016.

A further review has been completed following the recent Congregational Meeting. Church Council and the People and Culture Committee were asked to undertake a further review of the Office Hours. The Congregation wanted longer Office Open Hours to “return to what they had been previously and to ensure an open presence.”

It is timely to provide a historical update as to the prior Office arrangements, because those details appear to have been misunderstood in the recent motion and processes at the Congregation Meeting. Church Council committed to attempt to retain and support Heather in her Call to Ministry. In subsequent discussions, few if any people know or were aware of the Church Office Hours.

The Office Manager’s previous working hours were structured as follows:

• Monday 9:00am – 5:00pm (30 minute break)
• Tuesday 10:30am-2:30pm (no 30 minute break)
• Wednesday 9:00am-5:00pm (30 Minute break)
• Thursday 9:00am-6:00pm (30 minute break)
• Friday 9:00am-4:00pm (30 Minute break).

This totalled 34 Hours per week. Heather indicated her availability for Semester 1, 2016 would be restricted to 3 days per week and there will be further changes in Semester 2, 2016 as her contact hours change and increase. Heather was on occasions unable to arrive at the 9:00am commencement time and as a consequence, it was a regularly accepted situation that the Office was not open until closer to 9:30am.

Our review confirmed that a level of consistency and thus predictability is desired in the Office hours. Church Council approved a Budget for the Office of 30 hours (0.7) for the 2016 year, but also stipulated the desire to retain and support Heather. Concurrently, there was also a widely expressed view that we needed to carefully review the Operational requirements of the Office and prudently manage the Office hours as well as the Staffing levels.

Current Office Hours.

We have now amended our Office Open hours as well as amended hours of employment from Monday, 14 March 2016 following the resolution from the Congregation Meeting:

• Office Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9:30am -3:00pm ( 30 minute lunch break)
• Office Open Monday and Thursday 9:30am-5:00pm (30 minute lunch break).

This will provide continuity, meet the needs of several groups and give us a broader community presence. The revised Hours of Employment are as follows:

Heather Hon – Office Manager ( Part Time Role):

Wendy Pepper – Office Assistant (Casual Role):

Wendy’s hours have been amended for this trial period. Heather and Wendy have agreed to lunch from 1:00PM -1:30PM for consistency across the lunch break when the Church Office will be closed.

We have spoken to a broad cross section of people, some who expressed strong held views, as well as others who didn’t attend or didn’t comment at the congregation meeting. These revised hours have been favourably received, and people are prepared to see how it works over the duration of the trial.

Communication and Focus Groups.

From discussions and feedback, it is apparent that several people were concerned as to the Church being “open” in terms as a community focus and to assist with other factors such as welfare.

In addition, there were some concerns raised as to specific groups requiring assistance and interventions from the “office.” We have heard the comments and believe a valuable lesson can be learned from communicating more openly across the groups.

Several focus groups will be held, which will enable an open forum for all people and groups to attend raise issues and concerns as well as hopefully better understand the rationale for changes. We will communicate dates and details to the Congregation. We would intend one in April, 2016 probably during the day and then in May, 2016 probably at night. Another following completion of review in June 2016.