They used to watch football matches together and shared a passion for the nation’s affairs. So where did it go so wrong for Monique Ryan and Sally Rugg?
The meeting was meant to be a routine briefing. Instead, it became the moment when, for people forced to work absurd hours within the unrelenting pressure of a parliamentary sitting week, the Canberra bubble finally burst.
“The meeting was absolute carnage,” said a crossbench staffer unauthorised to speak publicly. “Nearly everyone was in tears. The agenda of the meeting…was completely derailed and eventually abandoned so that crying staff could be heard, every single one of us repeating the same point that unless our offices were given additional staff, then all the new HR systems and complaints processes meant absolutely nothing.”By the end, even Foster was reduced to tears.
Rugg is now the face of what workplace law expert Josh Bornstein believes could be an important test case of a relatively little known provision in Australian law; the right of employees to refuse to work unreasonable, additional hours beyond an eight-hour working day., Bornstein declined to discuss the details of the case but canvassed the possibility of a broader reckoning about the hours people have long accepted across a multitude of professions.
Bornstein said previous disputes involving this provision of the Fair Work Act have settled without trial. He said the need for a court ruling to clarify this area of law is evidenced by the social media ridicule and disparagement directed at Rugg for challenging a prevailing workplace culture. By the time of last November’s Victorian state election, where teal candidates failed to win a seat, the movement appeared to be flagging. The same might be said of the Rugg/Ryan relationship, although Rugg kept telling friends that working as Ryan’s chief of staff was the best job she’d ever had.
These included, in typically efficient, dot-point form: quick turnaround research; managing his diary; arranging travel; engaging with stakeholders; writing speeches; preparing media releases, letters, talking points, social media posts and other communications; attending events, managing the office budget; liaising with media; mentoring other staff and being available 24/7 to provide advice.
Another chief of staff told the review: “A change in the culture, rules and practices need to be implemented to protect staff from their employer, who has immense, unchallenged power over their livelihood, career and well-being.” Ryan made clear her concerns about the burden being placed on people in her office. In October last year she told: “It’s not healthy. I think it’s only a matter of time before we have a poor outcome with one of our staff members.″
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