Managers on Road
The AEAWA have been contacted by several members who have arrived at work to discover their proposed work partner for the day is an Area Manager or ORM, who is performing overtime as part of a casual contract. Several emails have also highlighted that some AM or ORMs continue to perform managerial duties (such as monitoring and reporting ‘Make Ready Time’ and ToC time, as well as standby capacity and crew availability) whilst working ‘Paramedic’ overtime.
Members should be aware that in accordance with Clause 13(d) of the EBA, “An employee may only work with a manager on-road as part of an operational crew on a voluntary basis.”
Further, should a member choose not to work with the manager, in accordance with Clause 13(e), you should not be moved out of your position as a result “No employee will be displaced from the operational crew where the manager is working on-road, without agreement.”
Whilst this may not be an issue for many of you, it remains an important protection under the EBA to avoid conflicts of interest arising. To avoid unfair pressure being placed upon an officer, and to minimise delay at start of shift, you should ideally be contacted by Rosters the day before to confirm whether or not you will agree to work with an AM or ORM.
Fit Testing & Overtime
Recent communications from St John regarding ‘fit testing’ indicated that “Initial fit tests need to be made on days off”. While we welcome the (long overdue) rollout of fit testing, and encourage all members to participate as soon as possible for their own safety, we just wanted to clarify that there is no obligation to perform this testing on ‘days off’, should you b unable or unavailable. The choice to perform fit testing on overtime is the individuals.
Ramping
Please be advised there have been reports that crews have been ramped in areas of hospital NOT located within the ED. The AEAWA do not support ramping in areas where they may be less visible, and thus less supported by ED staff and security. Often, areas outside of the ED do not have nearby duress functions, nor CCTV and may even be swipe card access only, with no ‘comfort break’ facilities accessible. As per the (still disputed) Patient Flow and Ramping Guideline published by St John, treatment should generally be limited to the ED and Triage areas.
EBA Negotiations
St John have proposed to hold a meeting next Wednesday 9th February. This will be held on Teams due to increasing community transmission of COVID-19. The AEAWA have made our position abundantly clear in relation to our sought pay quantum and remaining claims. We will report any outcome from this meetings as soon as possible.
Kind regards
AEAWA Team