Key Changes in the 2015 Enterprise Agreement

Transcription

1 Key Changes in the 2015 Enterprise Agreement This document summarises how the proposed Agreement differs from the existing and enterprise agreements. The last column indicates which State/Territory it represents a change for. Except where otherwise stated, States/Territories not listed means that the current Agreement provisions for that State/Territory already operate in the way described. Clause Name Clause Number Comment Parties Bound 3 The Agreement will cover employees in the and who work in residential aged care facilities, independent living units, community care services, carer support services. Additionally it covers nurses in NSW Recovery Services run by The Salvation Army. Represents a change for which State/Territory? Expiry 5.1 The Agreement will nominally expire on 30 June Wages 5.2 Discussions for a new Agreement will commence no later than 3 months prior to the expiry of the Agreement. A and B Percentage increases In NSW and the ACT the wage increase after approval of the EA is a minimum 6%, and then 2.5% (except for CSE grade 2) on 1 July In the wage increase is 6% or more for most classifications. Those with less than 6% will get a once-off Bonus payment. From 1 July 2016 the increase is 2.5% (except for CSE grade 2). Why are the percentages different? Currently there are many instances where the same job gets paid one rate in and another rate in the ACT and NSW. Making their rates the same therefore means increasing wage rates by different percentages. eg. CSE grades New Entrant through to Grade 3 are currently more highly paid in Queensland than in NSW/ACT. This means that the NSW/ACT rates need to be increased by a higher percentage to reach rates. (The reverse is the case for CSE grades 4 and Page 1 of 5

2 5 where receive a higher percentage increase to bring them into line with NSW/ACT wage rates). CSE grade 2 classification Many employers in the aged care industry have introduced a tiered structure within the grade 2 classification which pays a higher rate of pay to care stream employees with qualifications and experience. CSE grade 2 employees in the care stream will therefore be graded as either Level 1 or Level 2. A Level 2 employee has 2 years service in the Care stream and holds a Cert III in Aged Care or other relevant field. Every other grade 2 employee will be Level 1. Level 2 employees are paid the same as Level 1 employees after Agreement approval. From 1 July 2016 level 2 will be paid higher than level 1 to recognise their qualifications and experience, with Level 2 receiving a 2.9% increase, while Level 1 receive a 1.39% increase. The lower increase for Level 1 reflects the fact that ACP will be paying these employees the higher level 2 rate after Agreement approval. B Employees in with more than three months service whose rate of pay after the Agreement commences is less than 6% higher than the current minimum rate for their classification will receive a once-off bonus. The formula for calculating the Payment is detailed immediately following Table 1 in B of the Agreement. The Bonus looks at what the employee would have earned over the coming year had they received the full 6% wage increase, and gives it instead to the employee as a once-off Bonus payment. The formula estimates what the employee would have earned over the coming year by looking at how much the employee has earned over the past year. eg. A CSE Grade 2 in gets a 3.1% wage increase after Agreement approval. The Bonus shortfall percentage therefore is 2.9% (the gap between 3.1% and 6%, which is listed in the third column of Table 1 in B). Instead of receiving a further 2.9% as an increase in the base rate of pay, the Bonus formula calculates 2.9% of the wages the employee earned over the past 12 months, converts that into an hourly equivalent, and then converts that into a lump sum based on an estimation of the hours the employee would have worked over the coming 12 months. Exclusive to Page 2 of 5

3 The Bonus amount is payable to the employee as a lump sum within 6 weeks of Agreement approval. Minimum starts 13.3 The minimum shift length for increases to: 3 hours for part-time employees (up from 2) 2 hours for part-time and casual home care employees (up from 1) Annual Leave 20.2 Employees in nursing classifications will be entitled to five weeks of annual leave by default, and a sixth week if they meet the shiftworker requirements. If an employee chooses, payment for annual leave can be based on an average of the ordinary hours worked over the preceding 12 months instead of on contracted hours. Arrangement of hours 13.2 Rostered days off must be consecutive (unless otherwise agreed.). Specific reference to rostering employees 190 hours over 35 days has been removed. Handover at the commencement of each shift to inform of any changes to residents health status will no longer be limited to a handover between RNs. Attendance at meetings Particulars of Wages Recognition of Service and Experience National Criminal History Record Check 36 Part-time employees who attend meetings outside of ordinary hours and where attendance at the meeting results in the employee working more than 38hrs in the week will be paid overtime for work exceeding 38hrs Annual leave has been included in the list of particulars that must appear on employees payslips Progression between paypoints will be based on 1786 hours of work ACP will pay for the cost of initial and ongoing criminal history checks ACT Sleepovers 19.4 Nurses cannot be required to undertake sleepovers. Pay and Payment 12 The 3.5% above award wage guarantee for AiNs has been removed. The AIN rates already exceed the modern award rates by more than 3.5%. Broken shifts 13.5 Employees in nursing classifications will not be subject to the broken shift provisions. Page 3 of 5

4 Shift and Weekend Work 17.4 AINs in employed prior to 10 February 2010 get time and three-quarters for Saturday work. Overtime 16 Overtime hours must be authorised. The list of circumstances in which overtime is paid has been consolidated from the existing and provisions. Full-time employees will be paid overtime when they work in excess of their ordinary hours. Part-time employees will normally be paid overtime when they work in excess of: 10 hours per shift; 76 hours per fortnight; 152 hours per four weekly period; work on a rostered day off; or in excess of their guaranteed hours. However work on a rostered day off or in excess of the employee s guaranteed hours will not be paid as overtime if the employee agrees to work those hours. Exclusive to Consultation 31 ACP must consult over any proposed changes to rosters or hours of work. Public holidays 18 Eleven (11) public holidays for and by default. Employees also entitled to any additional gazetted local or State/Territory public holidays. An additional public holiday is granted between Christmas and New Year only if the employee did not get the benefit of an extra full-day local or State public holiday during the year. Union delegate training Easter Sunday added as a public holiday Employees will not be entitled to a day in lieu for public holidays that fall on a day that the employee is not rostered to work. 42 Union delegates will be entitled to paid leave from work to attend union training. Paid delegate training is capped at 3 days per union delegate each year, and up to a maximum of 12 days per Facility pro-rated for each Union having coverage of the Facility. Additionally the cap on the number of union delegates that will be recognised by ACP has been removed. Allowances 19.1 New in-charge allowance for RNs. ACT 19.8 Continuing education allowance for RNs and ENs. ACT 19.9 The Climatic & Isolation Allowance will not apply to any new employees. ACT Page 4 of 5

5 Repatriation Leave 19.6 One of the restrictions on when higher duties allowance will be paid (sub-clause b in the current Agreements) has been removed. Table 5 in B Allowances will not be increased over the life of the Agreement. 27 Ex-service men or women are entitled to repatriation leave. ACT Redundancy 32 A Weeks Pay for the purposes of Redundancy/Retrenchment pay is the employee s rate of pay ie. exclusive of penalties, loadings and allowances. Domestic Violence provisions Classifications 43 Provisions designed to assist employees who are in a domestic violence situation. eg. flexible work arrangements. A Junior rates of pay for clerical and admin classifications have been removed. Health Professional classifications, beyond a Diversional Therapist classification, have been included. ENs (without medical qualifications) in now get a higher rate of pay in the 4 th year and 5 th years of service. Classifications associated with the role of Catering Officer have been added. NSW Page 5 of 5