Employees of Mercy Health will get substantial back pay after a NSWNMA branch official and councillor discovered the company was not paying meal allowances for overtime.

The back pay will be worth thousands of dollars to some workers.

It will apply to staff at Mercy’s NSW aged care centres in Albury, Harris Park and Young.

Mercy is examining pay records of about 800 current and former employees and has made an initial payment of about $40,000 to 18 NSWNMA members.

Care worker Lannelle Bailey, a NSWNMA branch official at Mercy Place nursing home in Albury, made the discovery that staff were not being paid meal allowances for overtime.

This was a breach of the Mercy Health enterprise agreement, which says meal allowances must be paid after the first and fourth hours of overtime and every subsequent four hours.

Mercy Health has acknowledged the error and promised to compensate all staff for any payments missed during the previous six years – the standard limitation period for civil claims.

The aged care sector has traditionally been low paid, with a high proportion of part-time and casual workers. Many are recent migrants to Australia including temporary visa holders worried about job security.

These and other factors have made aged care a difficult sector for unions to operate in.

However, there has been an upsurge of interest and involvement by Mercy staff in union matters since it uncovered and acted on the payroll error.

More Mercy Health workers have joined the NSWNMA, and they are more inclined to approach branch officials for advice and help.

The Albury branch is building on this success by striving to make the workplace a ‘safe space’ where staff have the confidence to approach branch reps and get involved in union activity.

Creating a ‘safe space’ for staff to ask questions

Lannelle Bailey is a member of the NSWNMA’s statewide council and a workplace steward for the Mercy Health Albury branch.

She describes herself as “a bit of a nerd” who took the time to study the enterprise agreement. She realised the meal allowance error while doing admin work in between her carer duties.

Lannelle sought advice from NSWNMA organisers who confirmed that Mercy appeared to be in breach of the enterprise agreement.

“We decided to organise an initial claim for back pay as a test case,” she said.

“We told members that if they wanted to be part of an initial claim, they would need to provide their pay slips and time sheets for the union to review.

“We got 18 members largely through word of mouth and the union sent their information to Mercy Health in September 2024.

“Management acknowledged the error and advised all staff that they were reviewing everybody’s circumstances. They said they would compensate everyone for any payments they had missed.

“The initial group of 18 got their back pay in January.”

WORD OF MOUTH IS BEST

Lannelle said the issue generated a lot of discussion among members at work.

“Members and even non-members were reaching out to our branch executive to ask what this meant for them and did they need to do anything to make a claim.

“It has been one of the key topics for every branch meeting since the issue started in September last year.

“It has got more people interested in the union and they are interacting with branch officials a lot more.

“Members are starting to look at the enterprise agreement and understand their rights better and question things.”

The Albury branch communicates directly with members via a WhatsApp group and email. It can also send text messages via the Association’s communications unit.

However, Lannelle has found word of mouth to be the most effective means of communication.

“I think it’s vital that branch officials strive to make their workplace a safe space where staff feel comfortable to come and ask questions,” she says.

“They need to know they can get accurate information without feeling like they’re being spoken down to.

“Also, some people may not have enough English to read and understand all written communications or documents like the enterprise agreement.”

FIND A NERD IN YOUR BRANCH

Does Lannelle have any advice for other aged care branches if members suspect they are being underpaid or missing out on their legal entitlements?

“My suggestion would be to find a member in your branch who is a bit of a nerd like me and doesn’t mind reading through the EBA and looking at payslips.

“If they detect any anomalies then the branch can start to have conversations with other members to see if there are any patterns of underpayment or non-payment.”

Lannelle says that recent wage increases in aged care won after years of union action have helped to recruit members to the Association.

“Until recently, people felt they just couldn’t afford to take union fees out of their pay when wages were so low, and everything was so tight.

“Thanks to the work value case and the increase in wages for aged care staff, a lot of people feel they are in a better position to consider taking that leap and joining the union.”

Meanwhile, the Association is concerned that Mercy Health is taking too long to make good on the promise it made in December to provide back pay.

At the time of writing, Mercy had not updated staff since its email acknowledging the error in December.