ANF (Vic Branch) held urgent meetings this morning with members employed at Dava Lodge and Residential Aged Services (RAS) which manages the facility and was told the facility would definitely close after a potential sale of the business fell through last week.
Caulfield Drive Pty Ltd owns Dava Lodge, which has 90 beds but currently has 75 residents living in the facility.
Australian Nursing Federation (Victorian Branch) Assistant Secretary Paul Gilbert said: "The nurses and personal care workers are devastated about this news and are understandably deeply concerned about the distress such uncertainty and disruption causes to residents and their families.
"ANF members are outraged by RAS's expectations that its employees must show loyalty to their employer by working out their notice periods without any guarantee that they will be paid their lawful entitlements at the point of their termination of employment," Mr Gilbert said.
"While management has said wages will be paid up to the last day on 13 September, staff are worried about the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of accrued entitlements. ANF is now going through the complex process of calculating what our members are owed," he said.
"ANF members are also extremely disappointed that RAS has reneged on its commitment to implement a new enterprise agreement that would have provided improved working conditions for all nursing staff and personal care workers," said.
"Management has told ANF that these entitlements can't be paid until the assets are sold which we understand only include the bed licences. Staff will not be entitled to the Federal Government's GEERS unless receivers, who have not been appointed, place the company into liquidation," Mr Gilbert said.
"RAS refused ANF's request today to enter into a Deed of Agreement which would provide staff some certainty by formally indicating a commitment to pay staff entitlements and provide details about assets and sale time frames.
"Whoever wins Government on Saturday must introduce accountability for how aged care providers spend millions of dollars of taxpayer funds. The care and the fate of vulnerable elderly residents, who live in aged care facilities which are part of the health system, should not be in the hands of a private operator and its bottom line.
"If the Federal Government knew more about how funds were spent it would have more warning when an aged care facility was in financial trouble or indeed if it required additional funding," he said.
