Member assistance

The new Change of Ward allowance arising from the 2024-2028 public sector EBA is of interest to many members. Here are some of the most common queries (and answers).

What is the Change of Ward allowance?

The Change of Ward Allowance is an allowance payable to an employee who is relocated from their base ward during their rostered shift. This allowance is provided for in Clause 41A of the Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Sector) Single Interest Employer Agreement 2024-2028 (the EBA).

It’s important to remember that the Change of Ward allowance was designed to deter employers from redeploying and relocating employees, at short notice, to cover roster shortfall (usually unplanned absence).

Whilst this practice has been used by employers for some time, it became entrenched during the COVID pandemic and ANMF received a lot of member feedback that they felt undervalued when redeployed. You told us that it erodes confidence when you are moved to areas that are not your clinical expertise. Members also reported feeling disconnected from their colleagues when moved to another ward and used to fill gaps.

The Change of Ward allowance therefore operates with two primary purposes:

1. to impose a financial penalty on employers each time they redeploy or relocate staff, and
2. to compensate employees for being relocated.

Your base ward is the ward or unit you typically work on, or on which you were rostered to work.

The Change of Ward allowance applies where, at the initiative of the employer, an employee performs their rostered shift at a ward, unit or department that is not their base ward.

There are exceptions: the allowance does not apply to casual employees or Pool staff. Among some of the other exemptions are:

• post-registration students required to operate in another ward, unit or department as part of their academic requirements
• a nurse/midwife required to follow their patient to other units/wards – eg: diagnostic imaging or operating theatre
• those on working from home arrangements
• Community Health Centres
• a multi-base ward employee, to the extent they are working on a base ward in accordance with their roster (a multi-base ward employee is contracted to work on more than one base ward).

Anti-avoidance sub-clause

Clause 41A.4 seeks to prevent employers circumventing the Change of Ward allowance by, for example, defining multiple wards as one ward, declaring employees to be part of a pool arrangement or multi-base ward employees contrary to their wishes, or not rostering to a ward, unit or department where that would ordinarily be the case.

Does the allowance apply to me as a clinical nurse consultant who works across campuses, or as an educator who works across different wards of the hospital?

No. However, if you are temporarily relocated into a ward to provide direct patient care (with an allocation of patients) including as a result of demand escalation, then the allowance is payable.

As part of my normal work pattern, I am rostered to work on more than one base ward. Do I receive the allowance if I work on a ward/department other than that which I was rostered?

As a multi base ward employee rostered to work on more than one base ward, you will not receive an allowance for working on the base ward you are rostered to. The allowance will however be payable if, at the initiative of the employer, you perform your rostered shift on a ward, unit or department other than the one you were rostered to, or on a base ward other than that which you were rostered to.

Am I eligible for the allowance if my ward is closed over the Christmas period and I am redeployed to another ward?

If the Christmas closure was planned and you were rostered in advance to another ward, the allowance is not payable. If the Christmas closure occurred at the last minute and you had been rostered to one ward but are now required to work in another, the allowance is payable.

I work on Ward A. Partway through my shift a colleague on Ward B goes home sick, and I am told to go to Ward B to assist. Do I get the allowance?

If the timing means that you have effectively been relocated for the rostered shift, the allowance applies, even if it occurs partway through. If, however, you had effectively performed your rostered shift in the rostered location and were relocated to another ward for part of a shift to backfill an absence, the allowance would not be payable.

Note: This relocation should not occur if Ward A is then non-compliant with the minimum requirements of the Safe Patient Care Act. Occupied beds include those available to be occupied.

I work in a large ICU that is divided into teams, each with an in charge. Although I am allocated to a team on the roster, I commonly move across teams for my shift. Does the allowance apply?

No. The allowance is not payable for movement that is an ordinary, expected part of the work in a large unit or department.

Will I get the allowance if I am redeployed after I start my shift?

Employers should not be redeploying you after the commencement of your shift with the intent of avoiding paying the allowance. If you have been redeployed for most of your shift, then this should attract the allowance.

If you are redeployed or go to help in an area for a very short period (example, you cover a break for someone OR you go to another ward to administer chemotherapy or access a line because that is your area of expertise) then the allowance would not apply.

Do I get the allowance if I turn up to my shift and am allocated in-charge?

Not if you are in charge of the ward you were rostered to work in. But being in charge may attract a higher duties payment.

If you are allocated in charge of a ward you were not rostered to work in, the allowance will apply. Higher duties may also apply.

Do I get the allowance if I move into different areas throughout the shift?

If you are assisting in another area this will not attract the allowance. If your employer is redeploying you for five to six hours of an eight-hour shift then you are performing your rostered shift elsewhere and this should attract the allowance.

Do I get the allowance if my ward has more than one readily identifiable clinical section?

Yes, the clause specifically references Base Wards with more than one readily identifiable clinical section. If you were rostered to work in a particular section and you are redeployed to plug a roster gap (example for an unplanned absence) in another section, then you should be paid the allowance.

Example: You work on a ward with different clinical sections such as anaesthetics and PACU/recovery, and scrub-scout. The allowance would be payable if you were rostered to work anaesthetics and then turned up to your shift and find instead that you’re used to plug a roster gap in scrub-scout.

It would not apply, however, if you’re following a patient to PACU from anaesthetics, and that is a usual requirement of your position.

This allowance would also not necessarily be payable in theatres where staff work across all areas, and there are not readily identifiable sections nurses/midwives are rostered to.

Likewise, if you work in anaesthetics and if your list finishes early and management asks you to help in recovery or do restocking, you are unlikely to get the allowance.

This allowance would also not necessarily be payable in theatres where staff work across all areas, and there are not readily identifiable sections nurses/midwives are rostered to.

Does the allowance apply if my ward/unit has been temporarily relocated?

No. The allowance is payable if you are rostered to a different ward, not if your ward is in a different location. A ward relocation is generally planned, and it should be known on your forward roster (and as part of the consultation communications).

If, however, the relocated ward is smaller and as a result you are redeployed to a ward other than the one that was rostered, then the allowance will apply.

Does it apply if I am not ward based?

No. You need to be ward-based to be eligible to receive the allowance.

If you work between two regional areas and are rostered to work one but are then asked to work the other, you will not be entitled to the Change of Ward allowance but your redeployment to another campus entitles you to paid travel time.

However, if you are normally employed across the whole campus but get redeployed to work as a clinician in a specific unit, in a different role, that is that is specifically mentioned as a trigger for the Change of Ward allowance.

Do I get the allowance if my roster wasn’t posted in line with the EBA?

No. The issue here is that the employer is not compliant with the roster clause in the current EBA. Rosters must be of at least 28 days duration and posted at least 28 days before it comes into operation.

However, the new EBA contains a provision in line with the following: Where a roster is not posted 28 days in advance each shift in the roster that is worked with less than 28 days’ notice shall attract a change of roster allowance.

Does the allowance apply if I work in a team-based midwifery continuity-of-care model?

Whilst it will depend on the specific arrangements, if your team-based midwifery continuity of care model provides for you to follow the woman through their journey, and that is what the midwife is doing, the exception at 41A.3(g) applies – in other words, the allowance does not apply.

I am a midwife rostered to birth suite, but I am not required in birth suite because there are no birthing women. I am redeployed to another ward in addition to the minimum staffing ratio. Would I receive the allowance?

If you are redeployed for the rostered shift, then the allowance will apply. If, however, you are redeployed for a part of a shift only, the allowance only applies where, on balance, the period of relocation would constitute the rostered shift.

If, after I’ve birthed a woman, I follow the woman to postnatal to settle her in for the first hour or so, then return to birth suite, does the allowance apply?

If you are not given a patient allocation in postnatal, no.

If I get moved from an AM in birth suite to a PM in postnatal, do I get both the Change of Ward and Change of Rosters allowances?

If birth suite is your base ward and the day before your shift your NUM changes your roster to a PM shift in birth suite, you are eligible for the Change of Roster allowance.

If you are rostered to work birth suite (your base ward) and when you turn up to work you are relocated to postnatal, you are eligible for the Change of Ward allowance.

If you are rostered to work birth suite (your base ward) and the day before your shift your NUM changes your roster to a PM shift in postnatal, you are eligible for both the Change of Roster and Change of Ward allowances.

Do I receive the allowance if I work overtime on a different ward?

No. The Change of Roster allowance is only paid where a person is rostered to perform a shift in one ward but is relocated to another ward. Overtime is generally not rostered.

Does it apply to me when I cover breaks in different areas of my ward/unit?

No. Covering meal breaks is an ordinary, expected movement.

 

The new public sector nurses and midwives enterprise bargaining agreement contains a number of important parental leave changes.

*claims are agreed in principle for the public sector mental health agreement, it is not yet finalised so this section does not yet apply.

Taking or extending a period of long parental leave Parental leave may be taken by either, or both, members of an employee couple, however only one person can be the primary care giver at any one time, and long parental leave (taken by the primary carer) must be taken contemporaneously with the birth, adoption or placement of the child.

There is now an automatic right for an employee on long parental leave to extend that leave by up to another 52 weeks (therefore a maximum of 104 weeks) provided you notify your employer as soon as possible but not less than four weeks before the end date of the original leave period.

If you take 104 weeks of parental leave, you can take up to 20 ‘keeping in touch’ days during your leave.

Additionally, employees are now able to take annual leave and long service leave in conjunction with parental leave and can retain an ‘annual leave buffer’ prior to commencing parental leave to ensure a safeguard of available leave when returning from parental leave. It is the employee’s choice as to how they take their other leave with parental leave.

How many paid parental leave weeks can I take?

A public sector primary carer is entitled to 14 weeks paid parental leave. A non-primary carer employee who takes short parental leave is entitled to 2 weeks paid parental leave. Paid parental leave is in addition to any relevant Commonwealth Government paid parental leave scheme.

When am I eligible for parental leave?

The qualification period for full-time and part-time (non-casual) public sector employees to access paid parental leave reduced from six months to zero – inclusive of your probationary period, meaning you are eligible for paid parental leave during your probationary period and from the time you start permanent employment.

To be eligible for government paid parental leave, casual employees must be employed on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods of employment during a period of at least 12 months; and, aside from the pregnancy or the decision to adopt, can demonstrate a reasonable expectation of ongoing employment.

Will I receive superannuation contributions while on parental leave?

You will receive super contributions throughout parental leave including the unpaid component.

These contributions will be calculated by your employer using the superannuation contributions made over the 26 pay periods preceding the commencement of your parental leave, dividing that by 52, and making that payment for each week you are on parental leave (adjusted for any wage increases that occur during that time).

An eligible employee may also include voluntary superannuation contributions, if this is agreed with your employer in advance.

Does parental leave count towards my long service leave?

Parental leave, whether paid or unpaid, will count as service towards long service leave. This includes parental leave that is extended for up to 104 weeks.

What about Keeping in Touch (KIT) days?

If you take 104 weeks of parental leave, you are entitled to take up to 20 KIT days during your parental leave.

Your employer cannot unreasonably refuse any request to utilise (KIT) days.

Can I work for another employer while on parental leave from my main job?

There is nothing in your enterprise agreement, or elsewhere in law, that says that you cannot. Many members report picking up work, particularly during the unpaid component of parental leave, without any issues arising.

However, to be entitled to unpaid parental leave, an employee must have responsibility for the care of their child. Working for a different employer during parental leave may generate an argument about whether an employee still has responsibility for the care of their child.

In addition, employment contracts or local policy can include restrictions on working for another employer or as a contractor during employment. If you have a relevant policy, contract or letter of appointment, please send this through to ANMF so we can check it.

For the purposes of government-funded paid parental leave, this ceases when you return to work for the first time after the birth or adoption of your child, this is the case if you have done paid work for one hour or more on a day (other than a KIT day). Services Australia will not pay you any days remaining in your paid parental leave period after you return to work.

Can I come back to work with my employer while on parental leave?

If you and your employer agree, yes. However this will also jeopardise any remaining entitlement to government paid parental leave. For more information read the ANMF Parental Leave Guide booklet [PDF].

I have accrued personal leave, and I am changing jobs from one public health service to another public health service. Can I still take it with me?

Yes.

Previously, you could only take up to a maximum of 180 days of personal leave. Under the new EBA, the 180-day cap has been removed. This means there is no limit on the amount of personal leave you can take with you from one public health service to another.

You still need to be transferring from, and to, a non-casual employment position.

I work for a Council (Local Government), if I changed jobs to work in a public health service can I take my accrued personal leave with me?

Yes.

Personal leave portability may now be available to you if you are moving from a council in Victoria (as defined in the Local Government Act 2020 (Vic)). Breaks between employment cannot exceed whichever is the greater of two months or the allowable period of absence. See below for how to determine your allowable period of absence.

Please note, this may now also be available to you if you transfer from a public health service in another State or Territory, to a Victorian public health service.

How do I take my personal leave with me?

When your employment ends, the EBA requires that your public health employer provides you with a Certificate of Service.

If you secure another position with a different public health employer within the ‘allowable period of absence’ between stints of employment and provide your new employer with the Certificate of Service from your previous employer, your personal leave accrual should be documented, recognised, and transferred. We recommend you confirm in writing that the transfer has occurred.

What is the allowable period of absence?

It is five weeks, in addition to the total period of paid annual leave, long service or personal leave that you receive or are paid in lieu upon termination or for which you are paid in lieu.

So, if you were paid out six weeks of annual leave and 10 weeks of long service leave, your allowance period of absence would be:

• five weeks +
• six weeks annual leave +
• 10 weeks long service leave
• = 21 weeks maximum between jobs.

Can my previous service with another public health service be transferred?

Yes.

Service, for long service leave (LSL) purposes, is portable between public health employers. You simply follow the same steps mentioned above for transferring your accrued personal leave (you secure a Certificate of Service that details service with your former employer and provide that to your new employer). We recommend you confirm with your employer in writing that this has been recognised.

If you were or are a casual employee, check eligibility with our Member Assistance Team.

Can my previous service with another public health service in another state or territory, or a local government council in Victoria (as defined) be transferred?

Yes, under the new EBA improvements prior employment with a public health service in another state or territory, or a local government council in Victoria may also now be recognised if you move to a Victorian public health service. Again, recognition of service is subject to not exceeding allowable breaks, and it is strongly recommended that you get confirmation of this in writing when you give notice to your previous employer (so your LSL is not paid out), and when you commence with your current employer.

Are there any limits?

If you have 15 or more years’ service already, check with our Member Assistance Team about long service leave first.

If you are a casual employee, or any part of your service was casual employment, check with eligibility with our Member Assistance Team.

How do I check if my new employer is a ‘public sector’ employer?

There is a list of public sector employers in Appendix 1 of the public sector EBA. All of those in the list are considered public health sector, but it is not an all-inclusive list.

If you are thinking of moving to an employer you think should or could be public sector, but is not named in Appendix 1, reach out to that prospective employer to confirm, and contact the Member Assistance Team with the name of the employer if you require further assistance.

I have accrued annual leave, and I am changing jobs from one public health service to another public health service. Can I take it with me?

No. Annual leave that hasn’t been taken will be paid out when your employment ends.