CEB Staff Newsletter #40 - 8 December 2023

Message from Tracey O'Neill

Dear CEB Staff,

Wishing you joy in your heart and peace in your soul as you celebrate this Christmas season.

Thank you for your amazing work this year. Wishing you all a restful break and a happy Christmas.

Tracey O'Neill
Board Director and Chair

Condolences

We extend our condolences and prayers to Jim Waight and family on the passing of Jim's loved Sister, Carmel on Tuesday 5 December. The funeral will be held at Our Lady Help of Christians, Wendouree at 2.00pm, Tuesday 12 December.

We pray that God, who brings comfort and peace, will be with Jim and his family at this time. 

CEB Christmas Giving Initiatives

Last Chance to Donate! Closing Wednesday!

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 or non-perishable items can be placed in the box under the christmas tree located in the staff room. 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.

Gillies Street - Office Chairs

The new office chairs have now arrived at Gillies St and the old ones have been relocated to the shed in the car park. Staff will have the opportunity up until the Christmas shutdown to take these home for personal use on a first in basis.

Access to the shed will be made available via Reception.

If you have any questions, please contact Penelope Irish on email or on ph. 0429 473 351.

Article submitted by Ash Wiseman.

General Notice Pinboards

New pinboards have been put up in the staff room and the hallway where the bathrooms are located. These pinboards are for general notices.

Staff with any flyers, information, selling of items, buying of raffle tickets, etc are asked to please place them on these notice boards instead of being placed on doors, windows, cupboards or tables.

Article submitted by Kerrie Zammit.

SIMON Team - Last Day BBQ

The SIMON Team would like to invite the Ballarat Diocesan Education Offices around the land to participate in some last day festivities on Thursday 21 December. Staff are invited to dress as something culturally significant to themselves.

In Ballarat, the SIMON Team will be cooking up a sausage sizzle and we invite other offices to do something similar, feel free to bring a salad to contribute.

As the day progresses, please feel free to share photos with Marketing & Communications.

Article submitted by Kevin Brodie.

Christmas Shutdown Cleaning Schedule - Gillies Street Office

Please note that the last day for cleaning at the Gillies Street Office over the Christmas Shutdown Period will be on Friday 22 December.

Carpet steam cleaning is taking place on Monday 8 January and cleaners will commence back in the office in the afternoon on Friday 12 January. They will undertake a detailed clean prior to return of staff on Monday 15 January when the normal cleaning schedule will resume. 

It is also requested that all staff please remove anything from fridges prior to the closure period.

Anything left behind will be thrown out.

Article submitted by Ash Wiseman.

Staff News

Jacinta Cook

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new staff member Jacinta Cook who will be based in our Ballarat office. Jacinta has been appointed as the Manager: Child Safety while Jacqui Righetti is completing her Doctor of Education Philosophy. Jacinta comes to us from CatholicCare Victoria where she was the Senior Manager of Counselling and Relationship Services.

Jacinta will begin her role on Monday 11 December.

Brittany Kirby

Brittany Kirby will be joining the Wellbeing team as a Speech Pathologist based in the Ballarat area. Brittany has had experience working at Emmaus Primary School and will be employed at 0.5FTE with us while continuing to work at Ballarat Community Health.

Brittany will begin her role in January 2024. Schools will be notified of this appointment next week.

Ellen Dowie

Ellen Dowie will join the Wellbeing team as a Psychologist in January 2024. Ellen will be based in the Ballarat Office. Ellen is in her final phase of attaining her registration and will work at 0.8FTE while she completes her course requirements.

We are thrilled to be supporting her through this process. Schools will be notified of Ellen’s appointment next week.

Culture Amp 12 Month Self-Reflections

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.

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.

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.

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.