More money but worse off after hard-won pay increase for aged-care workers

Thursday, 28 March 2019

Aged-care workers won a $2 billion pay equity settlement in 2017 however, the change has had unintended consequences.

A pay increase for aged-care workers has not been all good news, research has found.

In 2017, the Government announced a $2 billion package to address pay inequity in the aged-care sector, an industry predominantly staffed by women.

Wages increased from $15.75, barely above the minimum wage, to between $19 and $23.50 an hour.

However, two years on, aged-care workers have reported a decline in hours, tensions between occupations, and a mismatch in pay levels to experience.

**READ MORE:

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* Historic pay increase for workers in female dominated industry**

The research, produced by the Human Rights Commission, NZ Work Research and Careerforce examined how the pay settlement affected the retention and recruitment of carers, composition of the workforce, carers' financial status, use of government support and choices around rostering and hours of work.

Managers and workers in the aged-care industry were interviewed about how life and work had changed since the pay equity settlement.

The aged-care sector was being stretched to the limit and the government needed to do more to fund the growing shortfall, researcher Julie Douglas said.

Both groups raised concerns that with an increase in pay, carers were then expected to take on more specialised tasks usually completed by nurses.

Some carers were also concerned about a loss in the number of their rostered hours as smaller businesses tried to recoup money by reducing the number of staff.

'It's like the hours have dropped so people were used to working a 40-hour week because that was the law then but now it is slowly dropping down to 20 hours or maybe 25 hours which again, we have people thinking what is the point of the equal pay deal because you are screening hours,' one carer said.

An aged-care facility manager said the structure of the settlement, with an emphasis on qualifications, also restricted options for carers, who became tied to one employer.

'These women have not been recognised for their own work and their own experience. Any increase they've been awarded, they only get to keep it if they stay with their original employer,' she said.

'If one of these women who has amazing skills but may not be qualified, leaves, they go down to the lowest level with their next employer. They're tied to that original employer. That means they do not have freedom of economic movement and that's not fair.'

The pay settlement had also created tension and resentment in the workplace, with other rest home workers feeling that the significant pay increase was unfair.

On the other hand, carers also reported greater quality of life with the higher income.

Researcher Julie Douglas said the sector was facing significant funding issues and it was important to keep the pay equity question separate from the constraints on the industry as a whole.

'We need to be really careful here that we don't use the workers who have finally received some recognition as a reason to make trouble in the sector. The problem is, the sector as a whole, for a whole range of reasons has been struggling,' Douglas said.

'This was an opportunity to hold our head up high to do the right thing but there was a backhander that said okay, we have to do it on the cheap.'

The full Value of Care report was launched by the Human Rights Commission on March 28.