HSU seeks to increase wages of “Home Aged Care Employees” by 25%

This post has been updated as of 8 November 2022. Catch up on developments in the Aged Care Sector – Work Value Case below.

In June 2021, the Health Services Union (HSU) lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission seeking to achieve increases of 25% across all classifications of Home Care workers who “provide aged care in home settings”.

The HSU claim has been piggybacked on the ongoing work value claim which is before the Commission which seeks to increase the pay of workers in residential aged care settings (who are captured by the Aged Care Award 2010) by 25% also.

In respect of the claim to vary the Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Industry Award 2010, the HSU proposes the increased rates should apply to workers classified as “home aged care employees” which it defines as “a home care employee providing personal care, domestic assistance or home maintenance to an aged person in a private residence.”

The work value claim/s for aged care workers flow from recommendations derived from the Aged Care Royal Commission, which, among other outcomes, encouraged Unions, the Federal Government and employers to collaborate in applying to vary wage rates to reflect the work value of aged care employees.

The HSU suggests over 130,000 workers currently provide in-home support to aged persons nationally, adding that, “the current minimum wage rates pertaining to home aged care employees in the SCHCDS Award do not recognise the nature of work, the level of skill and responsibility involved in performing the work, nor the conditions under which the work is performed by home aged care employees providing aged care services in home settings.”

If achieved, the increases sought would push the rate of pay for a Cert III qualified “home aged care employee” to nearly $29 per hour for a permanent worker (currently $23.67 per hour) and over $36 per hour for a casual (currently $29.59 per hour).

On the HSU proposal, rates of pay for “home aged care employees” would sit separately within the Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Industry Award 2010 to rates of pay for other home care employees (being those employees that deliver services to persons with a disability, as opposed to aged persons) meaning the increased wages, if awarded by the Commission, would only apply to home care employees providing services to aged persons. To be clear, the HSU claim does not seek to flow the increased rates on to home care employees who deliver services to persons with a disability.

It is very early days in the process and many developments could occur before this case reaches its conclusion, with proceedings scheduled before the Commission through to July 2022.

It is currently unknown when an outcome may be determined by the Commission or what the operative date of wage increases might be if they are granted. There has also been no opportunity for consideration of the confusion likely to be created if increased rates are inserted into the Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Industry Award 2010 for only one category of home care workers, given how common it is within the industry for home care employees to deliver services to aged persons, as well as persons with a disability, whilst working for the same employer.

UPDATE – November 2022

Late on 4 November 2022, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) released a significant decision, confirming there were “plainly justified” work value grounds for lifting pay for “direct care” workers within the aged care sector, awarding these workers an interim 15% wage increase.

Direct care workers (in the aged care sector) include Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, Assistants in Nursing, Personal Care Workers and Health Care Workers, for which it had been established “that the existing minimum rates do not properly compensate employees for the value”. This will encompass Support Workers/Home Care employees delivering services to aged persons under the Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Industry Award 2010.

The timing and manner of the interim 15% wage increase will be determined in the next stage of the work value case, while whether an even larger wage increase is justified will be determined later, in stage 3.

ES Subscribers will be kept informed of any developments as the case plays out.