Last November, members from South Eastern Community Care alerted us to potential
underpayments. The District Nurses also contacted HACSU to report they had found the
underpayment issue in the first pay run after the merger.
It has been quite some time since this issue was first discovered, but there is now light at the end
of the tunnel. HACSU met with TDN requesting an update and TDN advised they had engaged a
third party to cross-check all potential underpayments and have now completed the investigation.
The underpayments found related to:
• Pay point progression – after completing 12 months of employment, your pay point
increases to the next pay point in your level classification upon demonstration of
competency and satisfactory performance. This is not to be confused with progressing
from one level to another, the process for progressing from one level to the next is via
promotion or reclassification.
• Multiple periods of engagement 12-hour span – this is the maximum span of hours to
be worked. If you worked beyond the 12-hour span, the South Eastern Community
Care Agreement states you must be paid the rate of double time. It is also important
to remember, under the ordinary hours clause of the Agreement, the maximum hours
to be worked per day/shift is 8 hours or 10 hours by mutual written agreement.
• Minimum engagement – under the South Eastern Community Care Agreement, casual
and part-time, the minimum period of engagement is 2 hours. This means if you had
been rostered to work a 1-hour shift, SECC were required to pay you a minimum of 2
hours.
• 10-hour break – if you had been rostered to work without having a 10-hour break
between (with the exception of a sleepover) each day’s work, your entitlement is to be
paid at overtime rates i.e. double time as per the South Eastern Community Care
Agreement.
TDN informed us they expect to begin payment of eligible backpay this week. This will be to
former SECC employees who are currently employed by TDN. After this is complete, TDN will
then track down any employees who have left since the merger.
If you are a former SECC employee, or are still in contact with former employees, I strongly
encourage you to contact TDN to check if you are eligible for backpay as they may not have your
contact details.
If you have further questions, TDN will have a specific email for communication to address your
concerns. We encourage you to use this as your first point of contact. If you find you are not
receiving the help you need or having your questions answered, contact [email protected] and we will follow this up on your behalf.