NEWS-HR

TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – contract for specified term – ss.386, 394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for relief from unfair dismissal – applicant’s employment ended on 30 June 2015 – jurisdictional objection – respondent says applicant was employed pursuant to a fixed term contract and his employment ended at the end date of that contract – meaning of dismissed – if applicant has not been dismissed the Commission has no jurisdiction to hear his claim for unfair dismissal – Commission satisfied applicant employed on a fixed term contract – found applicant’s employment ended when the fixed term contract reached its end date – applicant not dismissed – Commission does not have jurisdiction to deal with his application – application dismissed. Zammit v Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation.

The Fair Work Commission has given its imprimatur to the UnitingCare Health & QNU Nurses Enterprise Agreement 2015-2018 in Brisbane.

Health and community services workers, most of whom are women, are retiring with a super balance of just $53,000. With more than 80 per cent of the workforce made up of women, modest incomes, the fact that many have taken breaks in their working careers to raise children and that they haven’t had super for their whole working life, means their retirement balances are less than half the national average.

The Fair Work Commission has rubber stamped the Eastern Health Services Pty Ltd “back in Motion Health Group Wantirna South Enterprise Agreement 2015”.

The Department of Human Services is standing by its position on penalty pay for casual staff saying its loading rates fit within what is required in the enterprise agreement. The Community and Public Sector Union has approached the Fair Work Commission about alleged underpayment of casual staff at Human Services, which looks after Centrelink and Medicare. The long-term casuals had either not been paid an annual salary advancement of 2.75 per cent or had not been paid overtime rates, according to the union which believed this was a breach of the enterprise agreement.

An urgent meeting has been held to ease the tension between the nurses union and South Australian Government over its Transforming Health overhaul. The Nursing and Midwifery Federation lost patience after the so-called “implementation schedule” documents arrived last week failed to provide the detail it was looking for. It wrote to Health Minister Jack Snelling stating it was “deeply concerned by the lack of meaningful information and detailed timeframes listed in these documents”. Union state secretary Elizabeth Dabars said the uncertainty had placed nurses under stress.

NSW nursing home should be forced to have registered nurses on duty to care for patients, a NSW parliamentary inquiry has found.

The Health Services Union and the Department of Health and Human Services are contesting a s.379 (Application to deal with a dispute) served by the HSU.