Background.
In the last round of public sector Enterprise Agreement negotiations, the Union and the Department of Health struck a deal that would see $15-million worth of improvements to wages & conditions go to employees.
Over the past year or so the VHPA, the HWU and the Department of Health have negotiated a package that sees this money allocated in various ways. For details on the package see the summary of key changes document and the proposed agreement—your employer is compelled to provide you with access to these documents.
You now have the opportunity to vote on accepting or rejecting the negotiated package.
Why is there a ballot?
The negotiated changes and consequent benefits to employees are not activated until the wording in the Enterprise Agreement is formally varied. An Enterprise Agreement cannot be varied unless employees are in favour of the variation. The ballot is the mechanism by which members are able to express their views on the matter.
Who gets to vote in this ballot?
All employees affected by the variation are entitled to vote in the ballot. Affected employees are those covered by the Victorian Public Health Sector (Health Professionals, Health and Allied Services, Managers & Administrative Officers) Multiple Enterprise Agreement 2011-2015 and who are impacted on by the proposed variation.
Do I have to vote?
Voting is voluntary; however the variation will not get up unless a majority of affected employees who cast a valid vote do so in the affirmative.
Is this the new Public Sector Agreement?
No, your Agreement still expires on 31 December 2015. This is only an amendment – albeit a fairly significant one – to the current Agreement.
Why is the annual CPD payment higher for Grade 3s?
We have worked hard to see all Health Professionals benefit from the package. We have also done all we can to see the money allocated equitably. As you may recall, the original Agreement saw employees at Grade 1 receive better wage increases than employees at other increments. Further, those employed at Grade 2 will benefit from a new increment at Grade 2 Year 5—those at Gr2 Yr4 will move up and receive an extra $1053 p.a. It is reasonable then for employees at Grade 3 to receive a higher annual CPD payment.
Is this related to the Union Elections?
No, the timing is entirely coincidental.
Having said that, elections are proceeding in Branch 1 (HWU) and Branch 2 (HACSU). Elections in Branch 3 (VHPA) and Branch 4 (MSAV) are now concluded—both teams were re-elected unopposed.
I haven’t received any information from my Employer?
Your employer is legally bound to provide you with access to the new Agreement. They have also agreed to provide a summary of key changes and details of the ballot process.
How this is being done is different for each employer – some have emailed every staff Member, some have made these documents available in a public space, some have placed them on the intranet. If you have not seen these materials yet, contact your HR department ASAP.
I haven’t received details of how to vote yet
Contact your HR department ASAP. The ballot is going to be conducted by phone—your employer will provide with a unique and secure login/password combination to ensure the integrity of the vote.
When is the ballot?
The ballot will open today, August 11, and remain open for 10 days. If your vote is not registered within this period it will not be counted.
Is there any back-pay?
Yes. The VHPA and the Department reached in principle agreement on the variation on 19 March this year. All applicable increases apply from this point on.
How should I vote?
How you vote is a matter for you. However, the VHPA is encouraging ALL staff to vote YES. The benefits of this package will only roll out once the variation is voted up.
Thank you for providing the above information. The letter that came in the mail was the first I had heard of the vote and I didn’t understand what it was about and was reluctant to provide personal details because of this. Now that I know I will fill in the form that precedes the vote.
I am not aware of any email or notification from Monash Health about this important issue.
Hi Narelle,
Thanks for your comment.
Monash should have at the very least put the relevant information on the intranet. It appears that a number of employers have been less than forthcoming with relevant information. It would be great if you could print off our posters and get them up in your workplace. It is important that all employees appreciate the significance of this variation and vote on the matter.
Cheers, Craig.
Question re. Sonographer classification. There is a new undergraduate BSc in Medical sonography offered by CQU, where no post-grad qualification is required. Does this mean newly qualified sonographers from this stream enter our work-force as grade 3 year 1 sonographer if they are registered as a sonographer with ASAR? This would seem unfair as other health professionals have to work their way up the ladder. Thanks in advance.
Hi David,
Thanks for taking the time to contact us on this matter.
The CQU course will require a 4th year to equate to a Masters qualification. The measuring stick for sonographers is not necessarily their qualifiaction but meeting the ASAR accreditation. They accredit the courses. We do not think it is fair to penalise the majority of sonographers who have post grad qualifications and training in an attempt to restrict a minority who will potentially have less clinical experience and overall less academic time. It is our belief that market forces would have dictated that CQU grads would likely be getting Grade 3 once qualified regardless. What we have done is work to ensure that the EA reflects what is happening on the ground and catches those that have/will fall through the cracks by guaranteeing them a Grade 3 classification. This is also a reflection of the higher responsibility expected in sonography, regardless of the type of course that led to qualification.
I hope this helps.
Many thanks,
Craig McGregor.
Yes, we are in a similar situation to the person above. HR did send out an email regarding Clause 11 but most of the staff did not realise it effected them nor did they have the time to churn through numerous HR documents trying to find out if the information related to them. Nothing was displayed on any of the notice boards. This is pretty sad as this impacts the Renal Techs and we would have liked to have commented on these changes. Better communication for the future please, especially for the period when you are seeking input from membership.
Hi Kaye,
Thanks for your comments.
In early/mid 2012 the Union spent many hundreds of hours surveying the membership to determine their desires with regards a classification review. When we took office in late 2012 we spent a very long time scouring emails and digging up hard-copy member input so as to best determine the needs of the membership. Over the year many members emailed us to express their needs and wishes. We also wrote extensively on the matter: we emailed members on the issue on 12 Dec 2013, 18 Dec 2013, 09 Jan 2014, 22 Jan 2014, 02 Feb 2014, 27 Mar 2014, 22 July 2014, 07 Aug 2014, 08 Aug 2014 and 12 Aug 2014 (all of these articles are available on the website). We also published a detailed article in our September 2013 Special Report to Members.
We co-wrote a summary of key-changes document with the VHIA and were assured that it would be provided to all employees; your HR department is legally obliged to communicate the details of the changes to you and are required to provide you with a copy of the proposed agreement. We also produced our own FAQ and sent it to members. Finally, we produced 4 posters for worksites and sent them out.
I appreciate the need for open lines of communication and I think we have done all we can in this instance.
The proposed deal provides something for all public sector employees. This was not easy to achieve and took an incredible amount of effort to negotiate–we were not alone in these negotiations; the needs of three other parties (the VHIA,the Department of Health & the HWU) had to be taken into account and addressed in a mutually beneficial manner.
If you have not been receiving the information referred to above please contact the office so that we can ensure we have appropriate contact information for you.
Members are always welcome to contact the VHPA to discuss matters of concern or raise issues with us.
Regards, Craig McGregor.
Are there plans to extend this amendment to the private sector or will this be part of our next round of enterprise bargaining?
Hi Maree,
The private sector is not a unified entity like the public sector. It is comprised of many independently owned and managed businesses–each working to maximise profit. Each of these separate businesses has a unique Enterprise Agreement. We are typically negotiating 3 or 4 at a any one time. There is no centralised mechanism by which we could have the Clause 11 entitlements mirrored in the disparate private EAs. When it comes time to negotiate a new EA for a particular private employer, the members working for that employer decide what claims they wish to pursue in that round of negotiations. It may be the case they members seek to replicate some or all of the Clause 11 entitlements. That however is up to the particular group of members and the employer (who may be deeply opposed to CPD payments or a Gr2Yr5 classification etc). The union has opinions on what sorts of claims are important and are likely to be successful, however we are in large part led by what the members want–it is, after all, their agreement.
I trust you find this helpful. Feel free to contact the office if you have any further questions.
Cheers, Craig McGregor.
St Vincent’s Melbourne did not send information to me. Apparently it is on the intranet but I cannot find it and I am very familiar with the website. I have a group of staff reporting to me and they do not know anything about it.
Hi Kerri,
It is pretty disappointing that management seem to have neglected their legal obligations under the Act with regards this matter. Such a failing could create problems with regards certification if the union were opposed to the variation–the FAQ is available (see link below). The ballot has closed and the vote was successful. This means the benefits will flow to the members once Fair Work issue their decision on the variation–could take a couple of weeks. All the changes will be in the new version of the Agreement; this should also be available on your intranet at work. If you cannot find it there it will be available on the Fair Work website (see link below)–once the new version is in effect it will be available here as well.
If you have any further questions feel free to call the office on 1300 322 917.
FAQ: http://vhpa.asn.au/clause-11-classification-review-faq/
Agreement: https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/documents/agreements/fwa/AE896737.pdf
Cheers, Craig.
When will the results of the ballot be known, and if successful when will the implementation of agreed changes take place?
Hi Megan,
The Clause 11 ballot has closed and the vote was successful (see link below to the article from Friday 29 Aug). The varied Agreement is (within 14 days of the declaration–that is, by this Thursday) then submitted to Fair Work. Fair Work will assess the variation and issue a decision within a couple of weeks (depending on how busy they are); I see no reason why the variation will not be approved. The variation operates from the day specified in that decision. Most of the changes of relevance will be backdated to March of this year.
If you have any further questions feel free to call the office.
Cheers, Craig.
http://vhpa.asn.au/clause-11-classification-review-amendments-voted-up/