CEB Staff Newsletter #38 - 24 November 2023

CEB Christmas Giving Initiatives

As we approach the Christmas season, we take a moment to reflect on the true spirit of Christmas.  Christians celebrate the Christ child who is God who has come among humankind. For Christians, God’s gift of this great love is remembered and celebrated with joy. Christians share this gift of great love through the gifting of themselves in many shapes and forms from actions to physical gifts and donations.

In the Church’s year, the Season of Christmas is preceded by the Season of Advent which is a season of preparation for making oneself ready for the coming of the Christ child. The first day of Advent this year is the 3 December, this is traditionally when Christmas trees and decorations are put up. We, like Ballarat City Council, and many others in our Diocese have started the Advent spirit early! While Advent is a four-week period, we only have a limited time to collect donations for the charity we support this year,  in order for the donations to be distributed where most needed.

Each year, staff members from our Catholic Education Offices do wonderful things by donating and contributing to local charities across our zones. This year, the charities being supported across the Diocese include, (but not limited to):

• St Vincent de Paul
• Christian Emergency Food Centre
• ‘Share the Dignity’ – Bags for Dignity Christmas campaign
• Non-perishable donations for local charities

This year, the Ballarat Office will be supporting St Vinnies, Wendouree, via a gift giving tree. For those who would like to participate, purchase a gift card of any value at an organisation of your choice and place it in the red giving box situated at the front of the office (Gillies Street end) near the P&D pod.

Alternatively, cash donations can be made and we will purchase a gift card on your behalf. Once you have donated, please take a Christmas Giving Card which is beside the giving box, and place on the Christmas tree in the staff room, to acknowledge your gift.

Please ensure any donations are made by Wednesday 13 December 2023.

The Warrnambool Office will continue their tradition of donating non-perishable goods to their local charity. Donations of non-perishable goods will be collected in the kitchen. The other smaller Diocesan Offices are doing a combination of Christian Emergency Food Centre and ‘Share the Dignity’ – Bags for Dignity Christmas campaign.

Staff can participate in any of the Christmas Donation Programs across the Diocese.

We understand that each of us has varying financial capacities at this time, so you are encouraged to contribute at a level comfortable for you. All donations will directly impact the lives of individuals and families, making their Christmas a little brighter.

Join us in these meaningful initiatives throughout our Diocese as we come together to create positive change in our communities.

“Christmas is a ray of light for all, because it reveals to us God’s love and makes us feel the presence of Jesus with everyone, especially with those who are suffering.” - Pope Francis

Any questions please contact Tania Lund, Staff Wellbeing and Engagement Advisor.

Central Zone Mass - Ballarat Diocese

CEB staff are invited to join colleagues from Central Zone Primary and Secondary School communities to celebrate the beginning of the 2024 school year with mass at St Patrick's Cathedral. Further details can be found below.

For those who do not work in the Ballarat Office you might like to enquire how your local community is marking the start of the year.

Article submitted by Jo-Anne Bond.

Admin Updates and Reminders

Accommodation Bookings

To fall in line with the Pool car bookings, requests for accommodation will only be made 2 months in advance. Current bookings outside of this period will be deleted from the booking spreadsheet.

Room Bookings in Gillies St

A reminder that all room bookings are to be made via SIMON and not Outlook. To add in the room location for a meeting request invite, you can type the room name but do not hit enter, just click out of that field.

If you have any questions, please contact Elena or Kerrie.

Incoming Phone Calls

Staff are reminded that when you log into your computer of a morning, that you activate the 3CX program to allow calls to be transferred to you.

Please email the helpdesk if you do not have 3CX on your computer or you require assistance in setting it up.

Visitors to Gillies St

When guests are invited to attend the office, please ensure that an email is sent to the Reception address (reception@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) advising of their name, the time of visit and who they will be asking for.

This will assist Admin staff in contacting the relevant staff member that their guest has arrived.

Catering Invoices

When a catering request has been submitted to Reception, please note that the invoice will be emailed directly to the staff member requesting the catering, by the company.

Please remember to have your Team Leader sign off on the invoice before emailing it to accounts@dobcel.catholic.edu.au.

Coffee Swiggers

For those that need a daily dose of coffee and wish to be added to the email group, please make contact with Simon O’Brien.

Articles submitted by Admin Staff.

Staff News

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new staff member Tegan Burgess who will be based in our Ballarat office.

Tegan has been appointed as the SIMON Support Analyst until the end of the year. Tegan has previously worked as a customer service representative and started this week. 

Culture Amp 12 Month Self-Reflections

A reminder that the 12 month self-reflections for the CEB offices are open and should be completed by December 15 2023.

Each person has received an email from Culture Amp (notifications@cultureamp.com) containing a link to complete the self-reflection. You can access your self-reflection via the email or by logging into your Culture Amp account. The link to the self-reflection is located on the home page.

Before completing your self-reflection, you should update the status of your goals. Once you’ve completed the self-reflection, submit it to your team leader; and expect to have a meeting to discuss your reflections.

The 12-month self-reflection meeting aims to ensure an opportunity for conversation to affirm and reflect on your 2023 achievements and provide space to discuss any development and growth opportunities.

The self-reflection meeting is also a good time to discuss your goals for 2024.

• For instructions to update the status of goals and complete the self-reflection click here.
• For team leaders click here for instructions.

If you have any questions about Culture Amp please speak with Fiona Murphy or Tania Lund.

Article submitted by Fiona Murphy.

CEB Payroll – Advanced Processing

In line with the upcoming office closure, please find below deadlines and information regarding the upcoming pays over December and January. If you have any questions, please email Payroll.

Any changes to deductions, banking, superannuation, or taxation details will also have the same cutoff time as leave entries and approvals.

Salary Packaging files from Smart Salary and Paywise have also been requested early, if you have any planned changes to your Salary Packaging arrangements, please get in contact directly with either Smart Salary or Paywise AS SOON AS POSSIBLE so it can have every possible chance of making it into the correct pay.

Leave Notes:

• Please ensure leave is entered and approved in ELMO by managers by 6pm on the date listed above to be included in the applicable payrun
• You do not need to enter Public Holidays or the Gifted Leave in ELMO
• Instructions on how to enter or approve leave in ELMO are on the ELMO home page just under “My Team”
• It remains managers responsibility to ensure all leave entries are entered into ELMO and leave balances are not exceeded

Casual Timesheets, Contract Variations, New Starters & Terminations Notes:

• Please ensure timesheets are approved and emailed to payroll@dobcel.catholic.edu.au by 10am on the date listed above
• Any changes to contracts, new starters or terminations, please ensure all the required details and documents are provided to People & Development in adequate time, allowing for the People & Development team to submit per the above deadlines

Remember, to ensure you are paid correctly and within the correct timeframe, as a CEB staff member it is your responsibility to ensure your leave is entered correctly and prior to the due dates. Anything received outside of the above deadlines will be actioned in the next available payrun.

Article submitted by Chris Young.

Christmas/New Year CEB Finance Office Closure

In line with office closure the CEB Finance Office will finish on Thursday 21 December 2023 and re-open on Monday 15 January 2024.

Any invoices, staff reimbursements and school payments that require payment prior to office closure must be received by Accounts Payable by close of business Monday 11 December 2023 to be processed by Tuesday 19 December 2023.

Any invoices, staff reimbursements and school payments received after Monday 11 December 2023 will be processed for payment during the week of 15 January to 19 January 2024.

Please email all authorised invoices, staff reimbursements and school payments to accounts@dobcel.catholic.edu.au

Article submitted by Michelle Leonard.