Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd says DHS employees should ask their union why their latest pay rise is so late. 

Department of Human Services employees have ended their enterprise bargaining dispute this week, after almost three years of talks, with 70 per cent voting in favour of the new deal.

It is a sharp turnaround from previous ballots, which saw 74 per cent of DHS workers vote ‘No’ in November 2016, down from the 87 per cent ‘No’ vote in in September 2015.

The new agreement gives staff a three per cent pay rise, while retaining most current staff entitlements.

It has been structured to give staff a total pay increase of 6 per cent over 18 months.

The department will now seek to have the agreement approved by the Fair Work Commission. 

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has welcomed the deal, saying it fought hard to protect critical workplace conditions.

Mr Lloyd said the union was not very constructive for most of the negotiations.

“Recently the union appears to have stepped back and ran a neutral campaign in DHS,” Mr Lloyd said.  

“Employees would rightly ask the union for an explanation as to why they have waited so long for their pay rise.”

The government is still fighting for agreement on enterprise deals with the Bureau of Meteorology and the Federal Courts, while a deal for Immigration and Border Force workers has reached arbitration.

Employees at the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority accepted a new enterprise agreement this week as well.

Mr Lloyd says only 2.6 per cent of Australian Public Service employees are still bargaining for a new deal.