Ask Paul: Nurse or Midwife Manager Grade 5 and above translations  

Clause 84.3 of the 2020-2024 EBA contains a provision aimed at addressing the proper classification for nurses and midwives historically at Grade 5 or above.

The reason for this is that the 2016-2020 EBA, and all its predecessors, were either to be read in conjunction with the “Award” or in more recent iterations incorporated the “Award” terms.

The “Award” in this sense was the Nurses (Victorian Health Services) Award 2000, its predecessor the Nurses (Victorian Health Services) Award 1992, and relevantly, its predecessor the Registered Nurses Award 1986 of the Victorian Industrial Relations Commission. These Awards contained classifications that were understood at the time of their creation, but over time became less and less transparent, they were effectively a job title, with a pay grade attached. Similarly, they were created at a time when the bed numbers of each hospital were publicly reported annually, a time long since passed.

Bed numbers, as a mechanism for setting sub-grades, has been replaced for Nurse/Midwife Managers at Grade 5, 6 and 7.

In each case (except Executive DONs) Appendix 8 of the 2020-2024 EBA lists each campus in a table, the column in which your campus is named determines your sub-grade – either 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 7A or 7B. These then translate to salary levels, as follows:

After Hours Coordinator:

Supervisor:

For all other ADON or ADOM positions:

For Deputy DONs or DOMs, the following applies:

For Campus DONs the following applies:

*the NM8A salary is a new rate, if someone was on a higher rate under the 2016-2020 EBA translation they remain at the higher rate.

Executive Director of Nursing (NM9)

Historically each hospital was a stand-alone hospital with a DON, but with amalgamation of hospitals into health services – these has seen the creation in some health services of an “Executive Director of Nursing” or “Chief Nurse” role that sits above the campus DON.

It is also used for the DON of specialist ‘single campus’ health services, such as the Royal Children’s Hospital.

For DONs at this level, instead of campuses being categorised to arrive at a sub-grade, each health service has been categorised into three Groups, A, B and C. You can find those Groups in Appendix 9.

For an Executive DON the following applies:

 

An example of NM5 to NM9

While all this may seem a little complex, an example may assist in understanding how it all fits together.

1. Nhill Hospital is named in Appendix 8 as category 8C.
2. The campus DON at Nhill Hospital would therefore (as per the table under campus DONs above) be NM7A
3. The After Hours Coordinators at Nhill Hospital would (as per the table under AHCs above) be at Grade NM5C.
4. Nhill Hospital is part of West Wimmera Health Service.
5. If West Wimmera Health Service has an Executive DON (i.e., typically a DON with responsibility for the entire health service, noting that each campus must have a campus DON, however the campus DON may also be the Executive DON) you need to go to Appendix 9 to determine the grade that applies. Appendix 9 places West Wimmera Health Service in Group C. so the Executive DON would be at NM9C. If the campus DON for Nhill Hospital is also the Executive DON for the health service, then the position (at 2 above) would be at NM9C.

Where to from here?

Between August and December 2021 each employer will assess each position that meets the Nurse/Midwife Manager 5 and above definition above against the Nurse/Midwife Manager 5 and above descriptors and provide the outcome of this assessment to the employee in writing.

If the assessment results in a:

1. higher grade than currently applies, the higher grade will apply to you from the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2020; or
2. lower grade than currently applies, you will be maintained at your current grade.

Disputes arising from the assessment process can be dealt with by ANMF under the Dispute Panel Procedure at Clause 14 of the 2020-2024 EBA if we are unable to be resolve it at the Workplace Implementation Committee level.