Public Sector Campaigns

Barwon Health Campaign

VAHPA members at Barwon Health are currently fighting a proposed organisational restructure change in reporting at the Executive level.

 

 

 

 

New Public Sector Agreement

Thanks to your action and involvement, your new Allied Health Professionals (Victorian Public Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2021-2026 (EA) took effect Friday, 18 November 2022.

Your new ambitious and progressive new EA which is a huge, hard-won leap forward in your working conditions, rights and dignity at work. Below are the wins that you will now be able to access.

PARENTAL LEAVE

VAHPA has prepared a helpful Dos and Don’t Infograph for Public Sector Parental Leave, which can be found here.

Paid leave for Primary Carers will increase by 4 weeks, extending the entitlement to 14 weeks at full pay or 28 weeks at half pay. This leave must be taken at the time of birth or adoption. Non-primary carers will also gain 1 week of paid Parental leave, increasing the total eligible period to 2 weeks’ paid leave.

Earlier access to parental leave after 6 months of continuous service. This cuts in half the time for employees (other than casuals) to access parental leave.

Superannuation will also be paid through all periods of parental leave, including unpaid leave, so that primary carers will not be disadvantaged later in life for taking on caring responsibilities.

Also, all unpaid periods of parental leave (of up to 52 weeks) will now count as continuous service for the purposes of Long Service Leave accrual. Previously, unpaid parental leave would not count as continuous service.

A reminder that current and future VAHPA members intending to take parental leave can access reduced membership rates for the period of their parental leave.

LONG SERVICE LEAVE

All eligible employees will be able to access Long Service Leave (LSL) pro rata after 7 years of continuous service. Currently, eligible employees can only access LSL after 10 years.

This increase will be transitioned through the following schedule:

  • From 1 July 2021, access at 9 years service
  • from 1 July 2022, access at 8 years service
  • from 1 July 2023, access at 7 years service

Additionally, periods of unpaid parental leave and unpaid absence due to illness or injury, and the first 52 weeks of other types of unpaid leave will count as continuous service for the purposes of long service leave. Previously, such periods would not break continuous service, but would not count towards accruing continuous service.

This will help to reduce the disadvantage many people suffer because of taking unpaid leave to have children.

ANNUAL LEAVE

Non-casual employees’ base entitlement will increase to 5 weeks (190 hours) per year, giving all eligible workers an increase of 1 week which will attract annual leave loading. The accrual of the additional week/s of annual leave is unaffected by this change.

The new EA will also include improved processes for dealing with annual leave applications during high demand periods such as school holidays.

FURTHER LEAVE IMPROVEMENTS

Gender transition leave
VAHPA stands for fairness, equality, and an end to discrimination. This leave ensures that all transgender and gender diverse employees have the express right to safe and healthy workplaces in all forms. Non-casual employees who undertake gender transition will be able to access up to 4 weeks paid leave and up to 48 weeks unpaid leave for essential and necessary gender affirmation procedures such as medical, psychological, legal and any other necessary appointment as agreed. Casual employees can access up to 52 weeks unpaid leave. This leave can be used for essential and necessary gender affirmation procedures such as medical, psychological, legal and any other necessary appointment as agreed.

Compassionate & carer’s leave: casuals
Unpaid leave for casuals on compassionate grounds will increase to 4 days per occasion unpaid instead of 2 days unpaid, while unpaid carer’s leave for casuals will increase to 3 days per occasion, up from 2 days.

Professional Development leave
Professional Development leave has been amended to include:

  • Consolidation of professional development and conference/seminar leave to 7 days per annum which can be accumulated over 2 calendar years;
  • Professional Development leave requests can be made less than 6 weeks prior to the proposed date and cannot be unreasonably refused;
  • Clarification of PD activities;
  • PD leave can be taken for activities relevant to the Employee’s current position or job, or another position covered by the Agreement;
  • Improved entitlement to PD leave for part-time employees to ensure PD leave can occur on a day the Employee would not otherwise work; and
  • Mandatory training cannot be deducted from an employee’s PD leave balance and must be in paid time.

Revoking leave by the Employee
The new EA permits an Employee the ability to request to revoke most leave requests if they have been granted. It ensures that the Employer will not unreasonably refuse a request by an Employee to revoke the granting of leave.

Other leave improvements include:

  • Voluntary Emergency Management activities of up to 2 weeks paid leave per year, subject to operational requirements;
  • Special Paid Disaster leave of up to 3 days paid leave in certain circumstances;
  • Absence on Defence Leave with make-up payment for full time and part time employees;
  • Examination leave – ability to take leave for examinations necessary to obtain qualifications relevant to classifications, not just for higher qualifications;
  • Clear wording that family violence leave can be used to recover from family violence; and
  • Public Holiday substitution cannot be unreasonably withheld by your employer.

WAGES PACKAGE & ALLOWANCES

We have secured a package of pay increases and other conditions throughout the new Agreement which will raise wages in numerous ways. The negotiating team was able to win strategic pay increases which will raise your overall effective pay.

 

  1. Patience in Bargaining Payment
    A once-off lump-sum payment of 2.0% of your ordinary time earnings for the period of 28 November 2021 to 28 February 2022 will be paid as a “Patience in Bargaining” payment. Payment for Casual employees will also include the 25% loading.
  2. Classification Wages
    Wages and Allowances will increase 2.0% per annum from the first full pay period on or after (FFPPOA) the following dates:
  • 1 March 2022 (back paid to this date once the EA commences)
  • 1 March 2023
  • 1 March 2024
  • 1 March 2025
  1. Top of Band Payment
    Annual ‘Top of band’ payment of 0.3% of an employee’s annual salary (this is pro-rata for part-time and casual employees) payable for employees employed on:
  • 1 March 2022
  • 1 March 2023
  • 1 March 2024
  • 1 March 2025at the top increment of each Grade/Level/Class (for example AHP1 Grade 2 Year 4 and Community Development Worker Class 2A Year 11),but does not apply to AHP1 Grade 1 and AHP1 Grade 4.
  1. Skills Incentive Payment
    Additionally, we have won a Skills Incentive Payment for non-casual employees (pro-rata for part time employees) employed on the relevant dates:
  • 1 March 2022 – $500
  • 1 March 2023 – $750
  • 1 March 2024 – $750
  • 1 March 2025 – $1000
  1. New & Improved Allowances:
  • Lead Apron Allowance – NEW: If you are required as part of your usual duties, even where you do not wear a lead apron regularly or only wear it periodically, you are entitled to an allowance of $8.16 for each shift you wear it (increases in line with wage increases);
  • Change of Roster Allowance – NEW: If the Employer changes your roster without 7 days’ notice (subject to certain exceptions), you will receive an allowance of 2.5% of the AHP1 Grade 1, Year 2;
  • Travelling & Relocation – NEW: Full-time or part-time Employees required by the Employer to temporarily relocate from their base campus to another campus during a shift will be paid a Travel Allowance.
    Where this is required prior to a shift, and this results in 15 minutes or more of additional travel time, you will receive a Travel Allowance and payment of travel time.
    There are improved provisions to address financial disadvantages arising from those required to permanently change base campus (outside of redundancy context).
  • Night Shift – IMPROVED: The distinction between ad hoc and permanent night shift allowances will be abolished – employees will get the higher applicable rate, which will be $81.05 per shift;
  • Change of Shift – IMPROVED: this has Increased to $70.80 for all professions (will increase in accordance with subsequent wage increases);
  • Telephone Allowance – IMPROVED: The current clause will be expanded to apply to employees performing home visits;
  • Higher Duties Allowance (HDA) – IMPROVED: the HDA clause includes clear wording that it applies where a position is vacant (e.g. through resignation and not just absence); and
  • Entitlement to HDA to also be paid while on leave if higher duties continue when returning from leave (subject to another employee not being on higher duties because of the absence).
  • You have the right to refuse higher duties.
  • New allowance rates will apply if you are at the top of your Grade/Level/Class and the bottom of the next level is minimal/rate is lower.

BETTER CONSULTATION AROUND MAJOR CHANGES

The new Agreement will vastly improve the current clause in the Agreement (Clause 13) around Major Change in the workplace to provide better rights and collective action in challenging proposed changes:

  • Going forward, your Employer cannot implement any Major Change prior to the consultation steps in the clause being completed, other than by agreement with Affected Employees and VAHPA;
  • The definition of Major Change will be expanded to include workforce size, introduction of an on call roster, after hours or weekend roster, or how work is organised;
  • Change Impact Statements, the official notice required for Major Change, must include current position descriptions that may be affected by the proposed change, copies of any proposed new or revised position descriptions and a risk assessment where there may be OHS impacts; and
  • Importantly, if VAHPA raises a dispute regarding the implementation of a Major Change because of non-compliance to the EA, then the change must be reversed (exception such as where the employer is seeking an interim order from the Commission that they don’t have to reverse the change).

This gives us the ability to halt Major Change that is not genuinely consultative.

JOB SECURITY, RETENTION & PROGRESSION

Strengthened employment provisions
These will ensure that your Employer gives preference to ongoing forms of employment over casual or fixed term arrangements. This includes improved provisions for nominal casual employees to be classified as full-time and part-time employees. This is an immense step forward for Allied Health Professionals to counter precarious employment arrangements.

  • For both part-time and casual employment, minimum engagement will be defined on a shift basis rather than a week basis;
  • Variations to part-time work must be mutually agreed to and recorded in writing;
  • Part-time employees cannot be required to work additional ordinary hours and if disputed, the evidence of request to work additional hours must be in writing, otherwise the additional hours must be paid as overtime; and
  • The new EA gives part-time staff assurance with a new provision for review if you regularly and systematically work more than your contracted hours, then the Employer cannot unreasonably refuse a request to convert these to ongoing hours.

Career Progression
The new EA will also substantially improve career progression by removing AHP1 Grade 1 Year 1 and AHP1 Grade 1 Year 7 pay points. This means that those employees at the top of AHP1 Grade 1 (G1Y6 in the current EA, G1Y5 in the new EA) will progress to AHP1 Grade 2 Year 1, where they have completed 12 months at the new AHP1 Grade Year 5 level and are not being performance managed. Employees also have the option to not progress to Grade 2.

Expanded Clinical Supervision
Clinical supervision is vital to Allied Health Professionals to practice safely and continue professional development and the new EA solidifies the following provisions:

  • Grade/Level/Class 1 and 2 employees to receive clinical supervision from a Grade/Level/Class 3 employee or above in the same profession where this resource is available;
  • The forthcoming Allied Health Professionals Research and Practice Centre will review, advise and assist employers with implementing the clinical supervision for Grade/Level/Class 1 and 2 employees where it currently doesn’t exist;
  • Where an employer does not have the resources to ensure Grade/Level/Class 1s and 2s are clinically supervised, as above, they must ensure they receive supervision by a qualified and clinically appropriate Allied Health Professional;
  • Grade/Level/Class 3 employees will receive clinical supervision from an AHP. In the case of Grade/Level/Class 4 employees and above performing clinical work, they will receive clinical supervision from an Allied Health Professional or a Doctor of Medicine; and
  • New requirement that the Allied Health Managers and Assistant Allied Health Managers (however titled) be an Allied Health Professional.

Classification Improvements
There will be a new classification for Health Promotion Officers (Health Promotion Practitioner) and a new classification structure for Dental Prosthetists (as an AHPRA registered profession) to be included in the AHP1 classification structure.

The new EA preserves current Social Worker employees/positions, as well as providing for a review of Social Worker, Community Development Worker, Welfare Worker and Youth Worker classifications and rates of pay.

Better Processes
To ensure better protection and support, these other improvements have been won to give all AHPs better processes, including:

  • Improved Discipline provisions – stronger obligations on your employer when managing performance issues and further protections for employees to object where conflicts of interest may be present;
  • Improved Performance Management – provision ensures that performance issues must be dealt with as soon as possible and sets a 12-month expiry limit where the Employer cannot use the same performance management issues against an Employee;
  • Amended Dispute Resolution – gives greater clarity on when and how discussions to resolve disputes will take place, and a new clause creating independent dispute resolution panel for particular matters – supervision and management, safe staffing, workload, backfill and classification matters;
  • Better protections against Redundancy – this ensures that the Employer must make every effort to redeploy Employees affected by Major Change into a comparable role. It also empowers an Employee to reject a non-comparable role in favour of a redundancy if desired;
  • Protections for Fitness for Work – An employer’s concerns must be based on a reasonable belief. The Employer must meet its obligations under the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic). The first step after discussions to request a report from the Employee’s Treating Medical Practitioner is through the employee. There are stronger protections regarding independent medical examination; and
  • Salary packaging – the new EA ensures that the Employer will be obligated to maintain a salary packaging policy to ensure you have access to your employer’s salary packaging information.

RESPECT & RECOGNITION FOR YOUR WORKING DAY

Respect both at work and for your work means you have enforceable rights and protections. These specific improvements in the new EA will ensure that your time and your work ARE valued and dignified.

Right to Disconnect
The new EA will give you more peace of mind outside work time by giving you the right to disconnect. This will allow you the work-life balance to not be contactable and free you from the pressures of work while not on duty (subject to certain exceptions). This means that you have protections from being unnecessarily contacted outside your hours of work and have the right to disengage from workplace technology.

Overtime
Under the new EA, all overtime must be paid, even when it is not authorised. Additionally, the definition of ‘authorised’ now includes where you commenced seeing a patient and this continues beyond your ordinary hours. There are stronger rights to refuse unreasonable overtime, including when you are required to look after your immediate family or household.

Breaks
There will be an obligation on your Employer to ensure that you receive your meal and tea breaks where reasonably practicable. If you are unable to take your meal break (not including rest break), you will be eligible to be paid your ordinary rate plus 50%.

You must be able to take your tea break and not work during it.

Further, the EA is now clear that you must have a 10 hour break between ordinary hours shifts, like there is after you work overtime.

Rosters scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance
Fortnightly rosters must be posted at least 2 weeks in advance, which can only be altered due to another employee being absent, resignation, or other pressing emergency.

Working from home
Your Employer must have a working from home (WFH) policy which provides a genuine opportunity for you to work from home, where it is reasonable in the circumstances. You are entitled to a WFH request that cannot be unreasonably refused by your employer.

Alternate to biometric timekeeping
For employers who currently have biometric timekeeping, there is a requirement to not unreasonably refuse an alternative to biometric timekeeping and maintain an alternative where an alternative already exists. For employers introducing biometric timekeeping, where it is implemented, it must be implemented with an alternative.

Improved Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA)
The new EA provides an improved process that gives an Employee on a FWA the ability to end it earlier, which your employer must not unreasonably refuse.

Accrued Days Off (ADO)
Allied Health employees will have greater flexibility to being able to request not taking ADOs in the four-week period in which they accrue.

SAFE & HEALTHY WORKING CONDITIONS

You have a right to be safe at work, and it is an obligation of the Employer to proactively ensure a healthy and safe work environment. Health and Safety is a union issue – the protections that ensure your wellbeing at work have always been won by the union movement. The new Agreement better aligns to the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act of 2004 (‘OHS Act 2004’), and gives greater clarity and relevance to Allied Health. The new EA improves provisions around ensuring your physical, psychological and emotional well-being.

Safe staffing
Health and safety means that there are appropriate levels of staff in each work area. Employers can often overlook or ignore psychological risk due to unsafe staffing. The EA amends the safe staffing and workloads clause, including:

  • A requirement that your work allocation does not require you to work routinely beyond your ordinary hours of work;
  • Any targets or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be reasonable so that you can perform all aspects of your position and be provided in writing; and
  • There are new provisions around workload consultation and review, which can be requested by employee/s and/or VAHPA to amend your workload when you are unable to perform all of your work during your ordinary hours.

Hours of work
Going forward, there must be a 10 hour break between your ordinary shifts.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)
New OHS improvements include:

  • A new Industry OHS Working Group between the Employers and VAHPA will develop and recommend measures to improve OHS outcomes, including patient handling, safe rostering and fatigue, occupational violence, aggression-prevention and workplace bullying;
  • Your Employer must take a proactive approach to prevent and manage workplace injuries, including the timely reporting, investigation and prevention of workplace injuries;
  • Ensuring that Designated Work Groups (DWGs) will be appropriate to the nature of work and worksites for Allied Health and according to the OHS Act (2004);
  • The new EA specifies rights and entitlements for employees who are Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) regarding health and safety committees, training, election processes and facilities; and
  • There is a new clause specifically to ensure workplaces are free of occupational violence and aggression (OVA), obligating your Employer to ensure an action plan and procedure is in place to adequately prevent and respond to OVA.

Backfilling clauses strengthened
The backfill clause has been significantly amended, to require your employer to backfill absences of at least 2 weeks. These ‘absences’ will include absence caused by resignation, termination, or absence due to the employee being on secondment.

On request of VAHPA, the Employer must provide a written record of its attempts to replace absences under the Backfill clause.

Home Visit Safety
Safe and healthy workplaces extend wherever work is being done, including in client’s homes. A new clause in the EA specifies protections for Employees doing home visits, including:

  • The ability for Employees to have ready access to other employees to report emergencies and receive clinical assistance;
  • Specific obligations of the Employer to ensure Employees’ safety while on and after home visits;
  • The ability for Employees to raise safety concerns; and
  • The right for Employees to refuse unsafe work.

Workplace Implementation Committees
Active enforcement of the new EA is critical and can only be assured by ongoing member involvement and action. To assist that process, the new EA has reintroduced local Workplace Implementation Committees (WICs) to enforce Agreement implementation and allow on-going monitoring of the EA and its clauses and deal with any local disputes that may arise.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS TO THE EA

Best Practice Employment Committee & Classification Review (BPECC)

The EA has a new clause around ‘Best Practice Employment’, which will establishes a new committee to:

  • Review the AHP1 management and sonography structure;
  • Review the AHP2 structure;
  • Develop Pastoral Carer and Diversional Therapist classifications;
  • Review shift worker meal breaks; and
  • Develop workforce survey in relation to contractors and labour hire.

Better Alignment with the National Employment Standards (NES)

  • Casual conversion to be replaced by NES process where an employee can request conversion after 6 months;
  • Updates to parental leave to include provisions relating to hospitalised children, stillbirths, and flexible unpaid parental leave;
  • Updates to compassionate leave to cover stillbirths and miscarriages; and
  • Updates of the definition of serious misconduct to include sexual harassment.

Public Holidays
Easter Sunday and the Friday before the AFL Grand Final will be added to the list of Public Holidays. In addition, requests for Public Holiday substitution cannot be unreasonably withheld by an Employer.

Sleepover allowance changed to ordinary shift
The provisions regarding sleepover allowance clause have been deleted. This means where an Employee is required to sleepover on the Employer’s premises, this sleepover will be counted as time worked and paid as ordinary time or overtime depending on circumstances.

Union representation & training
Solidarity makes us strong, and your Agreement must enforce this. Under the new Agreement, an employee can now be represented by the Union for any process under this Agreement.

Employee release requests to take union training must be responded to in writing within seven (7) days of the application being made.  If the leave is not approved, the reasons must be included in the written notification.

ADDITIONAL UNION WINS

VAHPA‘s bargaining team have secured additional significant wins for you through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Victorian Government that will lead to significant improvements in your working conditions and support your EA conditions won in the Allied Health Professionals (Victorian Public Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2021-2026 (Agreement).

Although these have been won outside the Agreement, they provide significant parallel gains to better support the improvements achieved in the Agreement.

These wins will help grow the profile of Allied Health throughout the sector and the state through an increase in senior Allied Health Positions, and a new research centre, which will help provide better data to fight for better funding and conditions for Allied Health, as well as meaningful policy change. 

Within your workplaces, this will ensure better support for your day-to-day work (for example not having to take on extra, potentially unwanted duties on top of your ordinary duties) through more dedicated Clinical Educators and a reliever pool to cover the workload of staff when they are on leave.

Allied Health ‘Leave Reliever’ pool – pilot program

We have negotiated the development and trial of a ‘Leave Reliever’ pool with the intent to expand and grow this pool during the life of the Agreement. The Leave Reliever pool will dramatically help the workload pressure on you and your colleagues when you or they are on leave, thereby providing better work-life balance.

This Leave Reliever pool will be capped at 300 FTE Grade 2 over the life of the Agreement, and implemented as follows:

  • Second Year Agreement: 50 FTE for trial;
  • Third Year Agreement: 100 FTE for expansion; and
  • Fourth Year Agreement: 150 FTE for expansion.

Clinical Educators

To ensure that both current and future Allied Health Professionals are receiving proper clinical education, have greater scope for career advancement and to help reduced workload pressure, we have secured an additional 100 FTE of Clinical Educators for Allied Health:

  • 80 FTE at Grade 3 level; and
  • 20 FTE at Grade 4.

The distribution of these new positions is still to be determined.

Establishing an AHP Research and Practice Centre

We have secured a major milestone with the establishment of Allied Health Professionals Research and Practice Centre. This will help improve the public profile of Allied Health giving us the data and information we need to better inform both Allied Health policy decisions and to advocate for Allied Health.

This Centre will be a partnership between academia, VAHPA and Allied Health services, allowing us to build an evidence-based approach when contributing to service provision in the following areas:

  • Workload Management Tool – the Centre will develop a workload management tool to ensure that Allied Health Professionals workloads are appropriate, safe and achievable. This tool that may be trialled in agreed service/s and cohorts, with the intent of using this tool in the future (such as in future enterprise agreements).
  • Classifications – the Centre will:
    • review the Social Worker/Community Development Worker/Welfare Worker/Youth Worker classifications;
    • participate in the development of the Pastoral Carer and Diversional Therapist classifications; and
    • participate in the review of the AHP2 classifications, AHP1 Management structure, Sonography classification and any other agreed classifications.
  • Clinical Supervision – the Centre will review, advise and assist Employers with implementing the clinical supervision structure, including through networks across health services.

Allied Health Directors

There will be 38 FTE new Allied Health Directors and Deputy Directors appointed, as follows:

  • 20 FTE Directors of Allied Health; and
  • 18 FTE Deputy Directors of Allied Health.

The distribution of these new positions is still to be determined.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Why this is important to vote and vote YES on the EA
Your union, VAHPA, has worked quickly to bring you these much needed improvements that you have called for. It is critical that all Allied Health employees vote YES on this Agreement.

When will the vote be?

This is the schedule for the ballot. The dates and time below are final:

  • Sunday, 9 October: Access Period starts– you will be sent the EA in full by your Employer; 
  • Saturday, 15 October: Access period ends – the period to view the EA will close
  • Sunday, 16 October 9:00am (AEDT): BALLOT OPENS – the Ballot will be electronically provided by the Employer via “Elections Australia” online voting system
  • Thursday, 27 October 5:00pm (AEDT): BALLOT CLOSES

Many members have asked about specific clauses – namely leave, wages and allowances – and when they will be eligible for them. Any entitlements you may have under the new EA commence when the new EA commences operation, that is 7 days after the Fair Work Commission approves the new EA. For example, the increase to paid parental leave will only be accessible after this date.

Further Questions?
The new Enterprise Agreement has many new and amended clauses that will improve your rights and entitlements and ability to fight for further improvements in the future.

We have done our best to summarise and reflect what these clauses are. No doubt that you may have further questions on specific issues or clauses described above.

In the first instance, we recommend that you speak to your local VAHPA Delegate at your workplace or in your area.

If you have further questions, please contact us via phone on 1300 322 917 or via email at info@vahpa.asn.au.

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