The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and Anglicare SA Limited T/A AnglicareSA are in a dispute over the number of enrolled nurses employed by Anglicare SA at its aged care site who are required to administer medicines. AnglicareSA became aware that a number of its enrolled nurses who were not entitled to administer medicines by virtue of their experience or previous training, had not completed the required medication administration courses that would have permitted them to administer medicines. AnglicareSA required the enrolled nurses who had not completed these courses, to undertake the training in their own time and at their own cost. AnglicareSA contended that they were unable to direct the employees to perform work until the training had been completed. Some of the nurses took annual leave to attend the training, others took unpaid leave. The ANMF contend that AnglicareSA was not entitled to ‘stand down’ the nurses and that the nurses are entitled to be repaid the cost of the training, and payment at ordinary time rates for the period of their attendance at the training, or for those who took annual leave, the leave records to be adjusted on the basis that they worked. The Fair Work Commission has ruled that “AnglicareSA is responsible for the provision of such training and the time spent completing the same is to be regarded as time worked and paid at ordinary time rates and the AnglicareSA nurses who complete such training must be paid or have their annual leave records adjusted accordingly.”
