Possible reduced service levels due to COVID impacts on staff

Published on 11 January 2022

As the impacts of the COVID Omicron variant hit workforces across Australia and staff are forced to isolate, Snowy Valleys Council is preparing for the possibility of temporarily reduced service levels.

CEO Matthew Hyde said, “While strategies are in place across the organisation to minimize the impact to service delivery and business continuity the reality is there might be circumstances where reduced service levels are unavoidable.”

Council customer service counters are one such area where reduced services have already become a reality with counters in Tumut and Tumbarumba to be closed this Friday 14 January.

“Staff will still be available to provide customer service and to assist with customer requests via phone and email, just not face-to-face,” said Mr Hyde.

“We are working hard behind the scenes to keep delivering our services in alternative ways while balancing the staffing requirements,” he said.

"Where possible, staff continue to work from home and precautions are being taken for workers in essential services to continue to be onsite safely.

"Given the ever-changing nature of the pandemic and its impact, it may also mean that we need to reprioritise work and may take longer than we'd like to respond to and fix customer requests,” Mr Hyde said.

“Any changes and impacts on service levels will be communicated to our community and customers as soon as possible, and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we support each other to keep safe.”

Council can be contacted during business hours via phone: 1300 ASK SVC (1300 275 782); Email: [email protected] or Website: www.svc.nsw.gov.au/contact-us.

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