One of Australia’s largest aged care providers has committed to paying all staff by the end of the year across its 74 nursing homes nationwide for unpaid mandatory training outside their rostered hours.
A dispute lodged by the ANMF (Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU) Branch) in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) argued that by directing employees to undertake mandatory training, Regis Aged Care was obligated to pay wages for compliance.
Training typically involved online learning completed by nurses outside of their rostered hours at their homes.
QNMU members across multiple facilities raised concerns that Regis had failed to pay for mandatory training completed outside rostered hours, claimed payment would only occur if employees separately notified Regis they’d completed they training, and susggested staff were choosing to complete training in their own unpaid time.
Following a conciliation conference last week to resolve the dispute, Regis advised it was reviewing unpaid training completed by all its nursing home staff.
In a subsequent email to the FWC, Regis confirmed a nationwide review to identify any instances where mandatory training was completed ‘off shift’ and payment may be owing under the current Enterprise Agreement.
In a major win secured by the ANMF, the aged care provider said it aimed to pay all affected employees by 31 December 2025.
“Regis will use its best endeavours to meet these timeframes. Where an employee has questions about their outcome or any payment made (or not made), the preferred pathway is that the employee raises this locally in the first instance, so that the relevant manager can review the underlying training records, with union involvement where requested,” Regis’ Aged Care Senior Workplace Relations Specialist, Nadeem Hekmat, said.
The QNMU has made it clear to all Regis members that they shouldn’t have to chase wages they’re already owed. It will continue to monitor the process and take further action if Regis does not pay all members for all unpaid training by the last week of December.
