Tax Office staff will receive pay rises without a repeat of negotiations that delayed increases to their salaries for several years.
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Public servants voted overwhelmingly to ditch a round of talks about a new workplace deal, instead choosing an annual 2 per cent pay hike for three years.
Australian Taxation Office staff decided to keep the same conditions when their workplace deal expires next year, but receive pay rises every August until 2022.
ATO commissioner Chris Jordan told staff on Monday a survey of 13,300 tax officials earlier this month showed 94 per cent backed the option.
Mr Jordan supported bypassing a fresh round of negotiations and told staff the vote delivered "a secure arrangement" that provided certainty about pay and conditions.
The ATO employs 20,000 public servants and is the largest Commonwealth agency to skip workplace talks and agree to pay rises.
It follows other federal employers in making that choice, called a workplace determination, rather than bargain for new deals.
An ATO spokeswoman said the agency welcomed the result and that Mr Jordan had committed to keeping the determination in place and providing the three pay increases.
"We offered a determination as an option to staff in response to their feedback that they wanted a fast outcome that kept their current conditions with a timely pay rise," she said.
"The determination achieves this, providing a fast and certain outcome that maintains conditions for staff and provides a pay rise at the earliest possible date."
The Australian Services Union favoured the option, saying bargaining risked leaving ATO staff with a worse deal under the Coalition's strict rules.
ASU official Jeff Lapidos said the staff decision would give them the maximum pay rise available under the government's workplace policy, without delay.
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When asked if the result reflected staff fatigue from the prolonged last round of negotiations, Mr Lapidos agreed.
If inflation grew and economic conditions deteriorated, staff could still change their mind, he said.
"Staff understand that if things go awry with the economy, we can always go back to bargaining, and if needs be, have a fight with the government."
The Community and Public Sector Union's national secretary Melissa Donnelly said it would continue to pressure the government to let agencies make "fair and reasonable" deals through "genuine bargaining processes".
"At the same time where members and delegates want to move forward with a determination in the meantime we will support them in doing so."
Ms Donnelly said the union's ATO members campaigned in the last round of bargaining to force the government to improve its pay offer twice and to maintain vital rights and conditions.
Staff understand that if things go awry with the economy, we can always go back to bargaining, and if needs be, have a fight with the government.
- Jeff Lapidos
"We're glad the government is unwilling to take our members on again and is not forcing agencies to cut rights and conditions in this round of bargaining."
Eighteen federal agencies have held surveys in 2019 in which the majority of employees supported pay rises in lieu of bargaining a new enterprise agreement.
Employees have voted up new enterprise agreements in ballots at seven federal agencies this year.
A majority voted "no" in a ballot at one agency, before an agreement was later voted up.