ANF Medical Centres & Clinics Claim Part A Award Maintenance The new Agreement is to contain all conditions contained in the Nurses Award 2010 and the National Employment Standards (where these are beneficial) (including where varied by any existing Agreement or Part C of this claim). Terminology to be updated where appropriate. Part B Agreement Maintenance The new Agreement to contain all legally allowable conditions carried over from any preceding Agreement(s) where beneficial to employees (except where varied by Part C of this claim). Part C New Claims 1. Recruitment and retention initiatives a. A Minimum 20% increase in all wages and allowances over the life of the Agreement. The term of the Agreement shall be until 31 December 2014. b. Registered and enrolled nurses non-salary conditions as far as practicable to be merged into common conditions, with no overall loss of conditions for any employee. c. A nurse performing or appointed to a team leader/supervisory/managerial position to be classified as a nurse manager and where such duties are on an ad hoc basis to receive an allowance of 20% more than her/his substantive appointment. d. Introduction of a classification structure which provides for a relevant and meaningful career path for nurses and which also provides for additional pay points/levels based on years of experience. This career path will be in three streams for Registered Nurses employed in general practice Practice Nurses (both EN and RN), Mental Health Nurses and Nurse Practitioners. e. Costs associated with the required police check to be the employer s responsibility including reimbursement to employee where they have paid the cost of the police check already, with police checks remaining with the employee and agreed process reached. f. Enhanced overtime and penalty payments for employees, including casuals, for shift work, weekends, double shifts, and public holidays. g. Increase the loading for working on Sunday from 50% to 75% consistent with the Nurses Award 2010.
h. Superannuation - compulsory employer contribution to be increased to 12% of all salary, allowances, loadings and penalties over the life of the Agreement and payable to all employees regardless of age or income. i. Superannuation payments, including salary sacrifice payments and superannuation guarantee levy (SGL), will be enforceable as part of the Agreement. j. Superannuation payments payable on termination pay. k. Employees to be entitled to choose their own superannuation fund with HESTA as the named default industry fund where an employee fails to choose within 28 days of commencing employment. l. The employer must remit all compulsory employer and voluntary employee superannuation payments monthly. m. A new qualifying period and/or probationary period is not to apply to an employee affected by a transmission of business. n. Employer to reimburse tollway and parking fees when employee is required to perform overtime or recall and for travel in the course of employment. o. All casual employees to receive public holiday penalties for work performed on a public holiday in addition to shift and penalty allowances. 2. Work Life Balance a. The 6 th week of annual leave to also be applicable to all non-casual nurses, whether full or part time, who are available to be rostered over a 24 hour period, or where they work regularly on weekends (including overtime) or night shift or are on-call on weekends. Annual leave loading will be paid on termination or resignation. b. Pay slips to include details of annual and personal leave. c. All employees to be eligible for not less than 14 weeks paid parental leave and 2 weeks paid partners leave specifically including casual employees engaged on a systematic and regular basis. In addition paid parental leave: Will be for available for each birth. Will be available to the primary carer of a child or any employee who gives birth to other than a live baby or the baby dies after birth (provided the birth was after 20 weeks gestation). May be taken in conjunction with the 18 weeks minimum pay provided by the Commonwealth in a form that is convenient to the employee (e.g. the 18 weeks Commonwealth payment may be topped up from the employees Enterprise Agreement parental leave entitlement, with any residual Agreement entitlement then taken in the form chosen by the employee) A weeks salary will include the ordinary time rate of pay plus regular loadings, penalties and allowance. An employee will be entitled to up to 10 days special paid pregnancy related illness leave, separate from their personal leave accrual, which is non-cumulative and subject to the same evidence rules as personal leave.
Paid parental leave shall be calculated on an employees wage prior to any reduction to work parttime as above. d. Employees will accrue 6 months Long Service Leave on the completion of 15 years service, plus an additional 2 months long service leave for each additional 5 years service including prorata accrual, following the completion of 15 years, and those employees are entitled to take all such additional LSL including pro-rata leave following the completion of 15 years. Where not already the case an employee can choose to take half/double LSL time at the corresponding rate of pay. e. All annual leave and long service leave payments to include loadings and allowances. f. Employees shall be entitled to redundancy pay regardless of the number of employees employed by the employer. g. All public holidays prescribed in the Public Holidays Act will be treated as such for the purposes of payment of public holiday penalty rates and rostered off provisions for part-time workers. Where Anzac Day falls on either a Saturday or Sunday the following Monday shall be granted and/or remunerated as a public holiday, save for employees working on either the Saturday or Sunday where Anzac Day falls who shall be granted and/or remunerated for that day as a public holiday. h. Paid time will be provided to employees performing volunteer duties for CFA, SES and similar organizations and employees will not be required to re-attend for work, without loss of pay, for 10 hours after completion of volunteer duty. i. The employer will reimburse an employee for child care expenses where an employee (without 24 hours notice) is required to perform work at times other than or in addition to their rostered hours. j. On-call allowance to be increased to 5% of the base weekly rate per 12 hour on call period. Existing entitlements that exceed the amount claimed shall continue to be paid over the life of the Agreement. Recall to work will be paid at a minimum of three hours at the appropriate overtime rate. k. Paid personal leave will increase from up to 12 days per annum on commencement to 14 days for each of the second, third and fourth years of service and up to 21 days in the fifth and following years of service. l. Employees to have access to a 48/52 type flexible leave scheme where requested. m. A savings clause will be inserted where not already in place to ensure that no employee shall suffer any loss or disadvantage to existing entitlements that exceed the amount claimed and/or agreed and shall continue to be paid over the life of the Agreement. n. No cap on the use of carer s leave in any one year. o. Where an employee becomes sick whilst on annual leave for more than 2 days on which she/he would otherwise have worked and immediately forwards to the employer a certificate of a registered health practitioner (as defined), then the number of ordinary working days exceeding two in the certificate shall be deducted from any sick leave entitlement standing to the employee s credit, and shall be re-credited to her/his annual leave entitlement.
p. Provide for five (5) days of paid Elder Care leave and up to 10 days of unpaid Elder Care leave per year in addition to Personal Leave, accessible where the employee is the primary carer for a frail elderly parent/s in circumstances where there is a medical, transitional care or other emergency requiring the urgent attention of the employee. q. Provision of support and paid leave of up to 10 days for employees experiencing domestic violence. r. All full-time employees are to be paid an annual grant of $500 toward health and fitness related courses, treatments, memberships or equipment (pro rata part-time). 3. Education a. Provision of paid professional development leave of five days per year for all employees including part-time employees on a pro-rata basis to attend external education or conferences relevant to the nursing profession, plus at least three days per year to prepare for and undertake, examinations or formal assessment. b. An education allowance which will be paid annually to all full-time employees (pro rata for part time employees) of $1500 for those whose workplace is more than 90 kilometers from the GPO (by the most direct road route) and $1200 for those whose workplace is less than 90 kilometers from the GPO. c. A fair and transparent process for all leave applications will be introduced and no leave application to be unreasonably refused. d. A registered nurse who completes additional recognized tertiary education beyond the minimum necessary for registration to receive the relevant Qualification Allowance, e.g., Graduate Certificate 4% including also immunization and mental health nurse credentialing, double degree 6.5%, post grad diploma 6.5%, honours degree 7.5% Masters entry 8.5% and Doctorate 9%. e. Enrolled nurses will receive a 5% medication endorsement qualification allowance (four routes only) as a percentage of their applicable wage rate for medication endorsement, whether education occurred pre or post registration. Further completion of the medication endorsement modules will form the first tier of an Enrolled Nurse Qualification Allowance. The Qualification Allowance will have two tiers, with the first based on completion of a qualification, in an area of study relevant to general practice, of at least 140 hours of nominal classroom time,. The second tier will be an allowance of 9% where the EN has completed a qualification requiring at least 280 hours of nominal classroom time. f. Paid study leave of 4 hours per week per semester will be provided for employees undertaking nursing studies. 4. Occupational Health and Safety a. Align Agreement with (insert state) legislative changes in OHS and workers compensation, b. Introduction of agreed principles and processes to prevent and manage OHS hazards effecting employees including extension of the VNBIPP, violence, bullying and stress. c. Protect and improve Accident Make-up Pay by: Increasing the duration of the benefit from 39 to 52 weeks
5. Staffing Removing the restriction on payment of make-up pay in the first two weeks Including shift and weekend penalties, regular overtime and regular allowances in the calculation of the usual 38 hour week, so that the employee receives 100% of preinjury average weekly earnings Making the Employer liable for increased make-up pay where there is partial incapacity and the employee s compensation payments are reduced. a. Organisational Change and Consultative provisions to apply to proposed changes to employee structure and terms and conditions of employment. Each Agreement must incorporate an organisational change provision, including mandatory consultation with employees and written advice to the ANF before the implementation of change, the provision of all relevant information and written assessment of the impact of the change. Such a provision will provide for salary maintenance for 12 months where the change has resulted in any loss to the employee. b. A full-time (or equivalent EFT) Nurse Practice Manager appointed to manage, direct, coordinate and supervise nurses and nursing activities. c. The minimum engagement for employees shall be 4 hours. d. Fixed term employment to only be used for genuine fixed term arrangements such as with LSL or WorkCover replacement, parental leave, graduate or post graduate positions and employment in special projects. e. Redundancy pay to be provided for all employees of 2.5 weeks per year of service, capped at 37.5 weeks. f. All casual staff who have worked regularly (at least once each fortnight) to be given the option of converting to on-going employment after a maximum of six months. 6. Trade Union Leave and Resources a. Appropriate resources, including desk and computer are to be provided for Union Job Representatives to enable them to undertake their role. b. The employer to provide paid leave as follows: Where an employee has been elected or appointed to the (insert state) Branch Council of the ANF to enable the employee to travel to and from and attend Branch Council meetings and where applicable meetings of Branch Council Executive; or Where an employee has been elected or appointed by the ANF to union Congress, conferences or events to travel to and attend those events; or Where an employee has been elected as a job representative, up to five (5) days per year to undertake education and training about industrial relations, including dispute resolution and disciplinary processes.