When you join Sunset Bay Health Campus your supervisor/manager and human resources manager will discuss your role and responsibilities. Your job will be discussed by using a job description, which describes the key responsibilities of your role. This will generally include:
Job descriptions may be used as a basis for comparison of work being performed and salary level. In the area of compensation, they provide a reliable gauge to see if the worker was adhering to the organisational policy and to check if wages are being paid correctly.
However, jobs grow and change and so do job descriptions. If you find that you are constantly performing an activity that is not in your job description, check with your supervisor to ensure that you are meant to be doing it. Someone else may be responsible for the activity or, the job may have changed and the job description needs to be updated.
All staff will sign a contract of employment.
The terms and conditions of employment are set out in the contract.
Most jobs will incorporate a probationary period. The usual probationary time is either a 3, 6 or 12 month period. The probationary time will be outlined at your employment. During this time your work performance, attendance, conduct and general suitability are assessed.
You will be paid at the rate at which you will be employed, based on the hours that you work.
Both the organisation and you can terminate employment with one weeks notice during this time, or at the time stipulated in the employment contract.
There are a large number of casual workers in the health industry.
Casual employees are covered by an award agreement that determines their rate of pay. Casual staff may work a variety of number of hours per week but generally there is an upper limit to the amount of hours they may work in a week/month or year. The organisation or the award will set the amount of hours that the casual employee may work. There is usually a pay loading (approximately 23%) as casual staff are not entitled to holidays, paid public holidays or sick leave. Casual employees have no guarantee of ongoing employment or of a career path.
If casuals work for longer than six months and have regular hours and days their status needs to be reviewed, as permanent employment may be a better option.
Casual staff do accrue long service leave based on their actual hours of service. Long service leave may be after 7 years or 10 years depending on the organisation’s policy.
Part time staff generally work on a pre-arranged schedule, and are entitled to the same conditions as full time staff, such as paid leave, sick time, long service leave, a career path and permanency.
There is an award that will govern how many hours per week they can work and they are paid calculated on the proportion of time they work of a full time worker (pro rata).
A contract is an agreement either written or verbal between two parties. In this case, yourself and the organisation with whom you are going to work.
Verbal agreements are not as easily enforced as a written agreement. Unless someone else witnesses that which is said, and can remember all the details, it is not as specific as a written contract.
Written contracts outline the job, its award, pay entitlements and any specific details that you need to be aware of.
By signing a contract for employment, you are agreeing to follow the organisation’s policies and procedures and work in accordance with their standards. They also are agreeing to pay you at a certain rate, to give you the amount of hours of work specified and to provide safe and suitable working conditions.
Job sharing is where 2 or more people agree to share a full time job. Working between them the hours of one full time person. They receive the conditions and entitlements of the full time worker, proportionate to the hours worked as a part-time employee.
Full-time staff are entitled to holidays, sick days, long service leave, and a recognised career path.
Staff have a permanent position (as opposed to fixed-term contract), are entitled to holidays, sick days, long service leave, and have a recognised career path. They may work part time, job share or be full time.
This is a flexible system of providing working conditions that suit both the worker and the organisation. They negotiate the conditions of employment, either by dealing directly with management’s representative and the worker, or they may have their union representative deal for them. Many organisations have enterprise agreements with their staff and these agreements may suit the new worker’s situation also; for example, they may negotiate the hours of starting and finishing work or the days of work.
Working outside the hours considered "normal working hours" will incur a shift allowance payment. These hours are set down in the award relating to the job. There are different rates for afternoon shifts and night duty shifts and you will need to check with the award as to what is the correct rate for your level and job.
If you work extra time or an extra day you may get time off rather than pay for that time. This can be described as "in lieu" of which means in place of.
Holidays are generally worked out as a proportion of the time worked. For example if you are entitled to 4 weeks holiday out of 52 weeks worked then every 13 weeks you are entitled to 1 week’s holiday.
Holidays need to be negotiated with the organisation. They will not want you taking time off at their busiest time, they may also prefer if you take your holidays in smaller time slots. Sitting down with your supervisor or the appropriate person and working out the details early in the year is better than trying to organise it one week before you want to go on holidays. Open communication ensures that all are happy with the outcomes.
Working the public holidays is compensated by having a higher rate of pay for those staff that are permanent. Casual staff may work the public holiday but because of their overall pay loading they won’t receive an additional loading.
In most service organisations it is normal practice to work public holidays and this will have been outlined in their award and contract of employment.
You may have PD days that are allocated to you for the purpose of training that relates to your professional needs.
Maternity leave is 7 weeks of paid leave. We recommend that you check whether your award covers you for maternity leave in the first 12 months of your employment, or if it is only valid after you have completed 12 months’ work.
Long service leave is paid time off as a reward for continuous long-term employment. Long service leave is based on either a State/Territory or Federal award system.
The amount of time that the worker must accrue prior to being able to take long service leave varies across Australia. Care also needs to be taken, as if there is any break in service, you may forfeit or lose some of your long service leave entitlements. These issues are very specific to the organisation and region that you are working in, so you need to find out as much information as you can from your human resources department.
Sick leave is paid time off where the worker is too ill to attend work.
Sick leave may be accumulated each year, if not used. A medical certificate will need to be provided for more than 1 day off sick, or if the individual has had more than 3 days off sick in the year.
Carer leave is also unpaid leave that is negotiated with your organisation. This is unpaid time off to look after ill parents or immediate relatives.
Being on time is showing respect for your fellow workers and for the organisation that you work for. If you are late it can affect those around you, as they have to do your work and fill in for you.
Morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner breaks need to be taken to allow you time away from the work area. Having something to eat and drink refuels you to be able to function well. Working without a break for long periods of time can lead to accidents as people become tired and may be inattentive.
When you are going on your break, make sure that you tell someone on the work floor when you are leaving and also when you are back. If there is an emergency all persons need to be accounted for so the emergency staff do not waste time looking for staff that are away on break. Ensure that you are punctual as other staff may be waiting to go on their break on your return, or they may be covering your work area whilst you are away.