Continuing the discussion on unpaid hours for mandatory e-learning over the past 12 months, the HSU has been pursuing speedy recovery of the unpaid wages and has sought that the hours be paid as overtime. Last week, the management of Macquarie Lodge Aged Care Plus confirmed the following:

1. Staff should email Milly Prokopenko and “need to list the modules they have completed” for the purpose of cross-checking in order to get paid.
2. The payment for the e-learning will be “according to the official timing” of each module.
3. The payment will be based on usual hours, not on overtime hours, because “overtime has never been authorised for the completion of e-learning modules outside of work time”.
4. “Any employee is able to contact a member of the scheduling team or management before commencing e-learning outside of a rostered shift if they are unsure if by completing the e-learning that time would bring them into overtime for the pay period.”
5. The organisation has “not paid the completion of e-learning as overtime as the centre has not and does not authorise the completion of e-learning training for part time or casual employees if in doing so that would bring the employee into overtime for the pay period.”

In order to ensure payment of e-learning hours please:

• Email Milly Prokopenko at [E-Mail not displayed] in regard to the payment for your e-learning hours.
• Make the subject line of your email ‘staff mandatory e-learning completion’ as requested by Milly.
• Make sure you list the modules you have completed in your email.
• Feel free to copy in your Organiser Hyojung Kim using [E-Mail not displayed] in any email of yours to management regarding this matter. 

Management has confirmed that if you send an email to Milly by 5pm on the final Thursday of the pay period, the payment will be made/received the next Wednesday/Thursday.

What are your thoughts? The Salvation Army have made their position clear about overtime, but what do you think? Please contact your Organiser to talk about your views on just how your e-learning should be paid.

Know someone who isn’t a member? If you know a workmate who is not yet a member of the HSU, encourage them to join now. New members should join at www.hsu.asn.au/join or call 1300 478 679. When we stand together, we can make sure our voices are heard at work.

Thank you for working as a frontline health worker.