ANF is pleased to confirm that, after lengthy delays outside of ANF's control, the proposed ANF and Healthscope EBA 2012 will now proceed to ballot of all Nurses and Midwives employed by Healthscope in Victoria.
The Ballot will occur on 15 and 16 October. The ballot will proceed via an electronic system run by Elections Australia. You will receive voting details from Healthscope.
ANF recommends a YES vote in the EBA Ballot.
The new agreement includes:
- Wage Increases - Healthscope Nurses received a 3.25% increase in January 2012. An additional increase of 1.3% will be payable from 1 July 2012, followed by 2.5% annual increases in July of each subsequent year. The 1.3 % increase will see all nurses and midwives at Healthscope paid more than their public sector colleagues by a minimum of 2%.
- Professional Development Allowance - In addition to the annual wage increase, for the first time we will have a Continuing Professional Development Allowance of $1000 in the first year, (split into $500 per 6 months), and $900 in each subsequent year (split into $450 per 6 months).
This is for full time employees and pro-rata for part time employees. This, coupled with the wage increase, results in annual increases of between 3.5% and 4% per annum for the duration of the Agreement.
Members have objected strongly to the proposal that employees must provide receipts to show that the expenditure is related to professional development (see later).
- Enrolled Nurses - The Employer and the ANF have agreed to ensure that the role of the medication endorsed Enrolled Nurse is supported by appropriate policies and to ensure that all Employees understand the role of the Enrolled Nurse in the context of delegation.
- Long Service Leave - Strictly speaking, under Victorian Awards and Agreements, a casual employee is not ordinarily entitled to long service leave. Over many years some casual nurses however have worked as though they were part time. This has resulted in disputes about whether the employee should more properly be classified as part-time (sometimes contrary to the wishes of our members) and consequently be entitled to long service leave.
In order to assist in addressing this into the future, casual employees will accrue long service leave consistent with the quantum (13 weeks after 15 years) and service requirements of the Long Service Leave Act (Vic). The LSL Act explicitly includes casual and seasonal employees provided that the employee has had continuous employment with Healthscope and there has been no more than a three month absence between two periods of employment (the employment may still be regarded as continuous if such an absence is in accordance with the terms of the employment).
An Employee paid as a casual as at the date of the commencement of this Agreement, who believes they are improperly classified as a casual and therefore entitled to EBA Long Service Leave (26 weeks after 15 years) as a part or full time employee, must raise this as a grievance under the dispute settlement procedure in this Agreement not later than 1 December 2012.
- Enrolled Nurse Career Structure - A new career structure has been developed for Enrolled Nurses that provides greater career opportunities and absorbs the current medication and seniors allowances. As a result of the new agreed structure, many Enrolled Nurses will receive increases of 4.5% to 7% in the first year.
- Annual Leave - All Enrolled Nurses and Mothercraft Nurses will be covered by the Registered Nurse terms and conditions of employment, guaranteeing a minimum of 5 weeks annual leave, with access to a 6th week of annual leave where a weekend worker.
Where an Employee has an accrual of annual leave, the equivalent of that generated by 18 months service or more, the Employer may direct the Employee to take such excess leave with the giving of not less than 6 months' notice.
- Change of Shift Allowance - Existing Enrolled Nurse employees will not have any reduction in change of shift allowances paid. Change of Shift allowance "caps" will be introduced from 1 December 2012 for existing employees calculated on the current number of change of shift allowances an employee received.
- Public Holidays - As a consequence of the merging of Registered and Enrolled Nurse conditions, Enrolled Nurses will receive double time for weekday public holidays, and double time and a half for weekend public holidays, rather than double time and a half for all public holidays as applied historically.
Where public holidays occur on a weekend, members will receive either the actual day or the substitute or additional day, depending on which day you are rostered to work, but not both. This means we will no longer receive penalty rates for more than one public holiday in respect of each of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
- On-Call Allowance - The on-call rate will increase to $50.40 per 12 hours, up from between $34.00 and $45.00 currently.
- Maternity Leave - An Employee who gives birth to a stillborn child (at or after 20 weeks gestation) or who gives birth to a live baby who subsequently dies, during or before the period of intended leave will be entitled to the full amount of paid parental leave. In either of these circumstances, paid partner leave/primary carer leave will also apply.
- Meal Allowances - Meal allowances are now guaranteed for working beyond the rostered shift length, and recall on weekends. Meal Allowances will be payable where work exceeds 1 hour on a rostered day, with an additional allowance after 5 hours. If working overtime on a rostered day off, you will be entitled to the allowances after 5 hours and 9 hours respectively.
- Disciplinary Procedure - We have a new and much fairer Discipline Clause, requiring a full investigation and procedural fairness to all employees.
- Clinical Nurse Specialist - applicants will need to satisfy that they undertake professional development through ANF, or belong to a special interest group as part of the ANF membership, rather than simply being an ANF member, to use their membership of ANF as meeting the criterion of membership of a professional association.
