Ramsay Health Care Pty Ltd has had its Ramsay Health Care Victoria Nurses and Midwives Enterprise Agreement 2016-2020 application approved by Commissioner Roe in Melbourne on 13 December 2016.
December 16, 2016
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has started advertising for seven members – including a chairman or woman – to replace all the members who resigned four months ago. The board, led by prominent Cairns accountant Carolyn Eagle, quit in September after it was revealed the health service was facing an $80 million operating deficit for the 2016-17 financial year. Since then the board positions have been described as a “poisoned chalice” by some members of the business community.
December 15, 2016
Noeline Virtu suffered an injury to her right wrist on 23 July 2014 when she tripped in a pothole in a dark laneway on her way to work with Greenacres Disability Services. Ms Virtu says that she suffered the injury because she was required to walk down the laneway to catch a bus from her home at Koonawarra to meet the “Greenacres bus” at Unanderra which would take her to work. Greenacres disputes Ms Virtu’s claim because she was injured whilst on a journey to work and there was no “real and substantial connection” between her employment and the injury in accordance with s10(3A) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (the 1987 Act). Ms Virtu claims weekly payments of compensation of $41.30 per week from 23 July 2014 to 5 November 2014 and from 12 January 2015 to 6 March 2015 and medical expenses, and that is pretty much what the NSW Worker Compensation Commission awarded her.
December 15, 2016
Anglicare is to defend a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) launched by an ex-staffer (Ware).
December 15, 2016
A regional health provider must fix a tense workplace environment in which staff have been under-reporting internal bullying, an independent report has found. Otway Health this week released findings from a review into its workplace culture, with allegations that ongoing harassment from senior management had resulted in at least 15 staff leaving across a 10-month period. The report outlines that Otway Health, which manages the Apollo Bay hospital, “must change” some management practices and step in to curb “inappropriate” behaviour of certain staff, with internal reporting system Riskman appearing “under used” and evidence pointing to a “definite under-reporting of bullying”. “A small number of staff reported that they no longer used the Riskman system to report issues, because they perceived that management only used the information for punitive reasons,” CWH Mediation and Workplace Relations consultant Chris Hicks writes. “This theme was particularly concerning.” Annual staff feedback surveys and Riskman data between 2011 and 2016 shows that, while at least 20 per cent of staff each year were reported to have experienced bullying, only six Riskman reports of bullying were entered in total across the five-year period. The report noted that while there was “certainly room for improvement” in many areas, there was not a widespread culture of bullying and that most staff “took pride in their work”. Problems identified included a “perceived lack of consultation” by management over extensive organisational changes; the intended meaning of emails often getting “lost” because of their “emotive tone”; and a “degree of disillusionment” towards the organisation’s values. It also suggested a small number of staff were only appointed to their roles because “there were no other available options”, noting that the “wrong appointment” can do more damage as opposed to taking longer to recruit.
December 15, 2016
TriCare Limited has been served with papers (s.394 – Application for unfair dismissal remedy) by ex-staff member Moody. Commissioner Simpson in the Fair Work Commission Central Plaza Two level 14 66 Eagle Street Brisbane will hear the dispute today at 11am.
December 15, 2016
Jaime Taouk-Saade has failed in her unfair dismissal claim against the Drug and Alcohol Multicultural Education Centre (DAMEC).
December 15, 2016
The aunt of a 10 year old boy found dead at home in Mackenzie, south east of Brisbane, last year has been denied bail. Jodie Powell, 43, sat in the dock of the Brisbane Magistrates Court with her back to the public gallery this afternoon while her lawyer, Brittany White, applied for bail on her behalf. She has been charged with manslaughter, child cruelty and interfering with a corpse.
