Payroll review

We are now undertaking a broader review of our compliance with the various enterprise agreements and modern awards that apply across St John of God Health Care. We have established a dedicated internal team and governance process to progress this important initiative. Where required, we will be using external experts to advise and assist us. This broader review will include the previously identified matter concerning the application of Sunday penalty rates for caregivers in Western Australia.

This review is complex and will take time, however we are prioritising the largest sections of our workforce first, as well as those where we have already identified issues.

This is and continues to be an important piece of work, and one of the key priorities of the St John of God Health Care Executive team.

We will contact all current and former caregivers directly to advise of the outcome of the review as the review progresses. Where there are identified issues, we will ensure that any back payments to caregivers include interest.

We will continue to provide you with regular updates on our progress. The next update will be in January 2025.

Thank you for your patience as we progress with this broader review.

We have identified that in some circumstances overtime has not been correctly paid for some former and current St John of God Accord caregivers.

We engaged external experts to undertake an initial review of overtime entitlements for caregivers to whom the following enterprise agreements apply (or have applied):

a) St John of God Accord Residential Services Enterprise Agreement 2018 (Residential EA 2018), and its predecessor, St John of God Shared Supported Accommodation (SSA) Enterprise Agreement 2014; and

b) St John of God Accord, Accord Community Engagement Services (ACES) Enterprise Agreement 2014 (ACES EA 2014).

In some circumstances overtime has not been correctly paid for:

a) weekly overtime, where a full-time or part-time caregiver worked in more than 38 hours per week;

b) daily overtime, where a full-time or part-time caregiver worked more than 10 hours per day under the Residential EA 2018 or a part-time caregiver worked in excess of 10 hours per day under the ACES EA 2014;

c) double time where a broken shift spanned more than 12 hours under the Residential EA 2018; and

d) overtime for time worked on a sleepover.

In some circumstances meal allowances for overtime may also not have been correctly paid under the ACES EA 2014.

We are in the process of contacting individual current caregivers to advise them of any back payment amounts, including interest. We will commence the process of contacting former caregivers in early 2024.

Our approach to this initial Accord review has been driven by our strong desire to quantify and pay money owed to caregivers before the end of the year.

To prioritise payments to caregivers as soon as possible, not all entitlements and issues were reviewed as part of this initial Accord review.

A broader pay compliance review for other St John of God Accord caregiver entitlements will be undertaken in 2024. This continues to be an important piece of work to which significant internal and external resources have been invested.

We thank our St John of God Accord caregivers for their understanding and will continue to keep them updated as we work through the broader review.

We have identified issues that have impacted some of our current and former caregivers and contractors, which may have resulted in underpayments.

The areas identified where potential underpayment may have occurred are:

(a) application of Sunday penalty rates for caregivers employed under three enterprise agreements in Western Australia;

(b) payment of overtime for caregivers employed under two enterprise agreements at St John of God Accord in Victoria; and

(c) possible inadequate superannuation contributions for contractors who are deemed employees for superannuation purposes.

We have disclosed these errors to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) and the Australian Taxation Officer (ATO) and will work cooperatively with them.

We take our obligations to comply with workplace and superannuation laws very seriously.

Our focus is on a remediation program and back paying, with interest, all those impacted as soon as possible and implementing strategies and controls to ensure ongoing compliance.

We have engaged external experts to assist us to undertake a detailed review of our payroll systems and processes, and we will ensure that this important work is resourced appropriated.

Who is impacted

You may be impacted if you work in Western Australia and fall under any one of the following three enterprise agreements:

• St John of God Health Care – HSU – Health Professionals Administrative Clerical and Technical Enterprise Agreement 2022;
• St John of God Health Care – ANMF – Registered Nurses' and Midwives' Agreement 2020; and
• St John of God Health Care Enrolled Nurses and Support Services Agreement 2019.

Or:

Work in Victoria for St John of God Accord and may have done overtime and work under one of the following two enterprise agreements:

• St John of God Accord Residential Services Enterprise Agreement 2018; and
• St John of God Accord, Accord Community Engagement Services (ACES) Enterprise Agreement 2014.

Contractor classification and superannuation obligations

If you provide services or work for us as a contractor but meet the definition of an employee under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, you may be impacted by our ongoing compliance review.

For clarification, we expect that many of our visiting medical officers (VMOs) will not be affected. While we are still determining the full scope of those impacted, we believe most VMOs will not meet the extended definition of 'employee' under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act. VMOs who treat patients at our hospitals and are compensated by a health fund, Medicare, or in some cases, directly by the patient, are unlikely to fall within this definition.

We encourage contractors to seek independent financial advice from qualified accountants regarding their business structure and its implications for taxation and superannuation.

We will continue to provide updates as our review progresses.