A union has criticised an aged care home on Hobart’s eastern shore for removing paid parental leave entitlements, saying it will not do any favours to a sector dealing with a skills shortage. The Fair Work Commission has approved a protected industrial action ballot for workers at the Queen Victoria Homes (QVH) in Lindisfarne. The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) said it reached an in-principle agreement with the home’s management that workers would be entitled to 14 weeks of paid parental leave. The union said management had now taken that off the table, telling employees to access parental leave through the Federal Government. “Access to paid parental leave is one of the big issues for aged care workers, a predominantly female workforce,” state secretary Tim Jacobson said.
