Rest home staffing changes ‘cynical’
A Nelson rest home’s staffing restructure is a ‘‘cynical attempt’’ to deprive people of hard-fought equal pay settlements, a union says.
But an industry body says the changes are an ‘‘unintended consequence’’ of the landmark equal pay settlement for caregivers. Without them some homes would struggle to survive, it says.
Tasman Rest Home in Stoke has advised staff of a proposal to disestablish some caregiving roles and replace them with a lower paid home assistant role, which wouldn’t involve any personal care of patients.
Tasman Rest Home director Andrew Sheard said it ran a different model of care known as a ‘‘small home philosophy’’ where caregivers were used for all jobs, even those that didn’t involve direct contact with a patient.
However, the impact of the landmark equal pay settlement meant it was difficult to run a viable rest home fully staffed by caregivers.
‘‘We have to remain fiscally responsible in our management of our businesses which is why we are proposing to make some changes.’’
Currently, Sheard said caregivers at Tasman Rest Home did tasks that included peeling vegetables, serving food, cleaning and doing laundry. In ‘‘conventional rest homes’’ those responsibilities were covered by separate roles.
‘‘They are tasks that we were very happy to have care staff doing when it was viable within the business but the reality is that the way that the funding has been put through, it does not work.’’
A letter sent to staff in August outlined that the ‘‘home assistant’’ role would not include care giving duties, so the hourly rate would not be covered by the equal pay settlement.
‘‘These proposed changes may seem like a departure from the philosophy of care that we have worked for so long to develop ... however, unfortunately our view is that we cannot see a way forward without some changes taking place,’’ it read.
The hourly rate for the home assistant would be between $16-17 per hour. A caregiver with up to three years experience under the pay equity settlement from July 1, would be paid between $19 per hour rising to $23.50 for someone with 12 or more years’ experience. A home assistant would be responsible for duties like dishing up food and cleaning.
Dementia Care New Zealand provides support for the 53-bed Tasman Rest Home and eight other rest homes around the country. Sheard said the other rest homes were also affected by the proposed changes. There was no set date for when they took effect as the proposal was still being worked through with staff and unions.
E tu assistant national secretary John Ryall said it appeared the move was a ‘‘cynical attempt to deprive people of the equal pay settlements and the living wage rates’’.
Under the Care and Support Worker Pay Equity Settlement Act, Ryall said the definition of a care worker was quite wide. ‘‘It means supporting them not just with medical or clinical issues but actually supporting them with walking, with showering, with having their food and feeding them sometimes like people with strokes.
He said it could be difficult to divide the job up, as some of it involved care work while the rest was non-care work. ‘‘We think is going to have the effect of undermining the standard of care that is provided in the facilities that go down this track.’’
If businesses were struggling to make ends meet as a result of the settlement, Ryall said they needed to raise it with the government.
NZ Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace said the situation for Tasman Rest Home was one of the ‘‘unintended consequences’’ of the pay equity settlement.
The association represented all parts of the aged-care residential sector and Wallace said it was having daily conversations with the Ministry of Health about funding issues in smaller rest homes.
He said the pay equity settlement funded by the government was not one size fits all. Wallace said it didn’t condone any members downgrading roles to avoid their statutory obligations.
‘‘But the pay equity settlement has put a lot of our members like Tasman Rest Home under a considerable amount of pressure.
‘‘In order to stay in business, in order to keep providing care to the community they have to look at a range of options.’’