Wednesday, 18 September

Employer Delaying Inevitable with Equal Pay Appeal

The union that supported caregiver Kristine Bartlett in her claim for equal pay has dismissed her employer’s appeal move as a waste of time.

Terranova Home and Hospital has applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to have an appeal heard against an Employment Court decision that low-paid female workforces, such as caregivers, did not have to rely on male comparators in their workplace or industry to show that their wage rates were in breach of the Equal Pay Act.

“Terranova is trying to reverse the tide of history that has been opened up by the Employment Court decision,” said Service and Food Workers Union National Secretary John Ryall.

“Low-paid women workers will not be held back any longer by the systematic undervaluing of their work.”

“The genie is out of the bottle and as much as Terranova can huff and puff in the Court of Appeal, it is too late to put it back,” said John Ryall

The solution to the undervaluing of caregivers is for the unions, aged care employers and the Government to start talking about how pay discrimination can be addressed and to come up with a package of measures to permanently address this issue.

ENDS

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