Victoria's bushfire tragedy
Staff support
Staff donations
In response to the devastating bushfires across many parts of Victoria Monash staff can support the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund by donating funds directly from payroll payments under a Workplace Giving arrangement.
Workplace Giving provides immediate tax benefit at the time of deduction. The amount of donation will appear on your payment summary for taxation purposes. Further details on Workplace Giving can be obtained from the Australian Taxation Office website.
Payroll deductions can be spread over the next three pay dates - 26 February, 12 March and 26 March 2009. Donations can be requested via an on-line form on the Human Resources Division website. The on-line Workplace Giving arrangements will be available from today until Friday 27 February, 2009.
Casual and sessional staff may also request a donation however the deduction will not occur if there are insufficient payments in the fortnight designated to permit the deduction of the donation.
Staff assistance
The immediate priority of any Monash staff member who is directly impacted by this disaster, I understand that your immediate responsibility is to be with your family, friends and community at this time. The Vice-Chancellor has approved up to five days of paid special leave for those staff either directly impacted by the fires or directly supporting the fire fighting efforts in non CFA roles (see special arrangement for CFA members above). If you require additional paid leave beyond this time, please contact your supervisor and discuss your requirements with them.
Staff are also encouraged to use the resources and information on the Department of Human Services’ website, and the Monash guidelines for managing critical incident stress (pdf, 239 kb).
Supervisors are advised to read the guidelines which will help them to identify those suffering critical incident stress and refer them appropriately for assistance.
Staff counselling
Any staff member who needs assistance during this time, please contact the Health, Wellbeing and Development counselling team on your campus.
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