The Fair Work Commission’s (FWC’s) Expert Panel handed down its decision on 15 March 2024 substantially concluding Stage 3 of the Work Value Case – Aged Care Industry proceedings.
The decision provided further wage adjustments for employees, as well as new classification definitions and structures under the Aged Care Award 2010 (Aged Care Award), the Nurses Award 2020 (Nurses Award) and the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHCADS Award).
The Expert Panel found that the work of aged care sector employees has been historically undervalued because of assumptions based on gender and determined that there are ‘work value reasons’ for the minimum award rates of pay for direct care workers to be increased beyond the 15% interim increase determined in Stage 1 of the proceedings.
To provide a framework for the increases, the Expert Panel set a benchmark payrate of $1,223.90 per week for Certificate III-qualified Home Care Workers (HCWs), Personal Care Workers (PCWs) and Assistants in Nursing (AINs) (Level 3 under the awards) and then constructed a new and uniform classification structure from that benchmark rate.
The coverage of HCWs in SCHCADS Award work will remain in the SCHCADS Award and be aligned with PCWs under the Aged Care Award as far as possible.
In relation to the Nurses Award though, the Expert Panel found that PCWs and AINs in aged care are functionally indistinguishable and that there was no basis for them to be covered by two different awards. Accordingly, the coverage of AINs in aged care will be moved from the Nurses Award to the Aged Care Award so that all PCWs and AINs in aged care will be covered by the Aged Care Award.
The increases awarded (inclusive of the interim 15% already awarded in the Stage 1 decision) and the new classification structures are as follows:
Aged Care Award – PCWs
Aged Care Award – AINs
SCHCADS Award – HCWs
A range of “grandparenting” provisions will be implemented together with the new wage rates and classifications with the intention of ensuring that no employee currently on a higher rate of pay is disadvantaged by the introduction of these changes.
Indirect care workers were awarded a 3% increase as the Expert Panel found that they do not perform work of equivalent value to direct care workers but in acknowledgement that there have been changes in the areas of infection prevention and control, and also dementia, aged care quality standards and other training requirements.
Draft determinations setting out the variations proposed to the Aged Care Award, Nurses Award and SCHCADS Award have been published and are open for submissions until Friday, 26 April 2024.
The Commonwealth also has until 12 April 2024 to make any submissions in relation to the operative date and phasing of the Stage 3 changes.
Once all submissions have been filed, the Expert Panel will determine whether any further hearing is required to finalise the determinations.
We will keep you updated on the finalisation of this matter and the timetable for the introduction of these changes.
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