Award Tips Traps & Templates - Best Practice News Alert 167

CURRENT CIRCULATION: DATE: ISSUE NO:

7735 November 25, 2009 167

Welcome to Health & Life’s free email newsletter service. Tell a friend that we would be happy to add their email address to the distribution list. This service is to provide Health and Life’s clients and those who attended our presentations with up to date information on key financial and practice management issues that may affect your practice. Please do not use this as a substitute to seeking professional advice.

Writer in charge: Mr David Dahm BA.Acc, FCPA, FTIA, Ffin, FAAPM, GLFG.

Award Tips, Traps & Templates Introduction Welcome again to another Best Practice News Alert Update. After receiving a lot of feed back from our readers, seminar participants, reader enquiries from Medical Observer and our clients we have detailed some key tips and concerns you may wish to consider in order to modernise your workplace in line with the new Awards and the Fair Work Act. The big news is yes we have finalised our template agreements after taking on board your feedback and addressing the various State, Federal and common laws that may affect your practice. The templates which include practice job descriptions will save your practice a lot of time and money and short circuit a number of the issues that may be concerning you. The main thing was to word the template documents so you could absorb the new penalty rates and allowances if you pay your staff above award rates and to take advantage of any other flexibility clauses that are permissible under the Act. We note this crucial aspect has been absent in many commercial template agreements provided by employer groups. We have detailed more about our new Award modernised templates in this edition.

The bottom line, even if you do not meet the paper compliance obligations before 1.1.2010 remember you still have to. It is never too late to start and in fact it will get worse should you choose to do nothing. It’s a legal requirement and not a choice to ensure compliance.

TOPICS Covered 1. Award Tips, Traps & Templates 1.0 Government Consultation not finished yet!

1.1 Shift Allowances still apply during ordinary hours 1.2 Health Professionals and Support Service Award 2010 – Extended Definition of Ordinary Hours 1.3 Penalty Rates Apply When Staff Call in Sick 1.4 Move to 4 week Pay Cycles

1.5 What is the Medical Practitioners Award 2010 – GP Registrars Response 1.6 Independent Contractors - $33,000 fine 1.7 The New Modernised Award Employment Kit Template 2.0 New Topics and Seminar Dates – 2009/10 3.0 NEW 2010 WEBINAR SERIES - Tackling the Super Tsunami of Change!

4.0 New Free Business Coaching /Mentoring Service – The Good, the Bad and Ugly Report 5.0 Catching Up with David Dahm and the Team 6.0 Where to from here?

Award Tips, Traps & Templates 1. Award Tips, Traps & Templates 1.0 Government Consultation not finished yet!

The consultation process in relation to the Fair Work Act will not be completely finalised until 4th December for comment. At this stage no major changes are anticipated. This does not mean the government does not have a final position. Even though we can expect some changes it appears not to be imminent despite many stakeholder challenges which appear to be in vain despite the 1.1.10 start date. A word of warning, the Federal Government deal with the States and Territories is that after 1.1.10 each State and Territory can change/localise their laws – so watch this space. There is an attempt to ensure any localised laws are similar to the Federal Laws – all laws remain part of the Federal regime.

1.1 Shift Allowances still apply during ordinary hours In relation to the Health Professional Support Services Staff Award 2010 - shift allowances, the shift allowance where the ordinary rostered hours of work of an employee finish between 6.00 pm and 8.00 am or commence between 6.00 pm and 6.00 am, the employee will be paid an additional loading of 15% of their ordinary rate of pay. A 15% shift loading will apply for the whole period of the shift and not on just the hours commencing before or after the time periods specified. A similar position arises with the Nurses Award.

For practices using the extended definition until 9pm, see below extended ordinary hour definition, the afternoon shift allowance still applies because it is after the specified hours detailed above irrespective of the ordinary hours.

1.2 Health Professionals and Support Service Award 2010 – Extended Definition of Ordinary Hours One small clarification we would like to make in relation to the Health Professionals and Support Service Award 2010 which we reported on in our news alert no. 164 Ordinary hours –

Private Medical and Dental Practice The ordinary hours of work for a full-time day worker will be worked between 7.30am and 9.00 pm Monday to Friday and between 8.00 am and 4.30 pm on Saturday.

Unless otherwise stated, the ordinary hours of work for a part time/casual day worker will be worked between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday. In other words you are a shift worker if you work outside of these hours and therefore a shift allowance applies, except where overtime is outside the ordinary hours.

1.3 Penalty Rates Apply When Staff Call in Sick The biggest problem for many practices is that penalty rates are payable to permanent employees at a minimum of 1.5 if staff call in sick. The problem is it is hard to maintain a casual employment pool of well trained and experienced staff as they require predictable hours. Practices that have regular casuals that receive predictable hours must convert them into part or full time employees according to all Awards. The reality is the practice has to budget for overtime when it comes to relieving staff who cannot report to duty because of an emergency. If you are lucky enough to retain a true casual staff pool no penalty rates apply.

1.4 Move to Four week Pay Cycles For those of you who have had a chance to look at the Awards closely you will find it may be easier to administer pays over a four week period instead of a weekly or fortnightly cycle especially if a staff member’s hours vary from one week to the next. This will also give you more flexibility and help avoid penalty rates over a 4 week period. Note all hours worked must be rostered. Staff may complain of cash flow problems. This can be addressed by requesting them to change any direct debit transactions monthly and/or offer to pay wages a fortnight in advance. Our template agreements may be affected by the latter if you are using wages in arrears for security purposes.

1.5 What is the Medical Practitioners Award 2010 – GP Registrars Response This new Award sets the minimum pay and working condition standards for all employed doctors specified in the Award. This Award covers day surgeries and community healthcare centres with a specific reference to General Practice. Specifically mentioned are Registrars.

The Award provisions will apply.

GP Registrars Minimum Term Conflicts with the Fair Work Act? In relation to GP Registrars we noted a major concern in our News Alert No. 166 that this legislation is not consistent with the National Minimum Terms & Conditions for GP Term 1 and GP Term 2 Registrars. Through the Australian General Practice Training Program (“AGPTP”) these minimum terms and conditions apply, by agreement between General Practice Registrars Australia (“GPRA”) and the National General Practice Supervisors’ Association (“NGPSA”), apply to all GP Registrars engaged in GPT 1 and GPT 2. The GP registrars are supposed to be employed by the practice concerned under this Agreement.

The concerns we have raised appear to have been addressed in a newsletter to all practices by the relevant stakeholder bodies. Our only comment and concern is that this advice is “without prejudice” and it gives no comfort that it is not legally enforceable and that practices need to also consider the Fair Work Act as we recommended in our news alert no. 166. We disagree that you are forced to employ a registrar doctor because supervision is required, there are many instances where contractors are supervised under the current Medicare rules e.g. nurses in order to secure chronic disease management and mental health item numbers.

Examples are used to determine what type of contractor may be deemed as an employee under the Awards and current tax laws. We are comfortable the service agreement recommendation we have made in our news alert no. 166 would not apply under the Fair Work Act, Superannuation and payroll tax rules if followed correctly. See below for more

information or contact us at pa@healthandife.com.au. The current position by major stakeholders only confirms our concerns.

The bottom line is that practices should not use this Agreement with their Registrar without also taking into consideration the new Fair Work Act rules. We have developed a template employee doctor contract for your consideration.

1.6 Independent Contractors - $33,000 fine Following from point 1.4 in relation to registrars, the Fair Work Act raises the issue an employer cannot force a “Friday night” employee into becoming a “Monday morning” contractor in order to avoid the laws. This may result in a fine of up to $33,000. The key issue is to ensure that if you have self employed providers they are genuinely contracting the practice services and not the other way around as detailed in our news alert edition no. 166 – this is a common mistake. Not only should practices have signed service agreements detailing this relationship – contact us to purchase template service agreements that cover bother medico-legal, taxation and industrial relation issues, practices must also ensure substance over form where the day to day administration/audit trail supports the service agreements terms and conditions.

We have developed a database program called the Doctors Pay Calculator that prepares BAS, Income Tax extract summaries as well as service fee tax invoices reconciled to the cent to ensure this is the case. See www.healthandlife.com.au for a video demonstration. If you cross your T’s and dot your I’s you have little to be concerned about and can significantly reduce your payroll tax bill and medico-legal risks. Furthermore your providers can take advantage of greater tax benefits.

1.7 The New Modernised Award Employment Kit Template Health and Life has drawn on its 17 years of industry experience and expertise at a technical and operational level to ensure practical template employment agreements best meet your day to day needs. We are aware that the Fair Work Act legislation is new and many of you have provided feedback that you require more specific and practical advice.

In addition to the annotated template agreements, we have provided copies of the relevant legislation as well as practical advice on how to implement the changes, right through to developing a team based profit sharing arrangement for all staff. In summary, the key benefits are:

•

Templates provide job descriptions – see list of documents below.

•

Templates save you thousands of dollars and time in modernising your employment agreements e.g. seeking and interpreting professional advice.

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Provides a basis to discuss key industrial issues with your advisors who are not familiar with the new industrial relation laws.

•

The timely dispatching of templates avoids staffing disputes and unnecessary anxiety.

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The templates are annotated with supplementary information on practical ways to implement the changes and mitigate staff dis-satisfaction.

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Tips to reduce/eliminate medico legal and employer risks including payroll tax when employing professional staff.

LIST OF DOCUMENTS

SPECIFIC 1. Letter of Appointment – General Practitioner/Provider 2. Job Description – General Practitioner...........................................................................................

3. Position Registration – General Practitioner .................................................................................

For GP Term 1 and GP Term 2 Registrars see: http://www.gpra.org.au/tnc.php ...............

4. Job Description – Managing Principal ...........................................................................................

5. Letter of Appointment – Office Manager/Practice Manager/Business Development Manager 6. Job Description & Bonus Payment Table – Practice Manager ......................................................

7. Bonus Payment Table – Practice Manager .....................................................................................

8. Letter of Appointment – Nurse .........................................................................................................

9. Job Description – Nurse ..................................................................................................................

10. Letter of Appointment – Receptionist ..........................................................................................

11. Job Description – Receptionist .....................................................................................................

GENERAL 12. Pre-Employment Medical Letter .....................................................................................................

13. Pre-Employment Medical Form ......................................................................................................

14. Occupational Health and Safety Statement ...................................................................................

15. Confidentiality Agreement – Non Disclosure Agreement ...........................................................

16. Employee Restrictive Covenant .....................................................................................................

17. Employee Details Form 1 ................................................................................................................

18. National Employment Standards ....................................................................................................

19. Medical Practitioners Award 2010 ..................................................................................................

20. Nurses Award 2010 ..........................................................................................................................

21. Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2010 ............................................................

22. Miscellaneous Award 2010 .............................................................................................................

23. News Alert No.164 – Nausea Allowance! How will the New Health Awards Affect You? ........................................................................................................................................................

(Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2010) 24. News Alert No.165 – The New National Nurses Award & General Award Update! ....................

25. News Alert No.166 – The New Medical Practitioners Award 2010 & Miscellaneous Award!......................................................................................................................................................

(Including National Employment Standards) 26. News Alert No.151 – Team Based Profit Sharing (including profit sharing spreadsheet)…………

How to Order Simply hit reply and indicate how many staff you have. Please provide all your contact details including your website address. We will then issue you a quote, when the quote is accepted we will issue a tax invoice which will require pre-payment before sending you a copy of the Employment Kit. WHAT TO DO NEXT? 1. DON’T IGNORE THE ISSUE – IT WON’T GO AWAY and IT WILL GET WORSE WITH TIME Up to $33,000 per breach! The most likely person to dob in a practice is an aggrieved employee. Practices need to budget for higher wages and new implementation costs of up to $10,000.

2. CONSIDER PURCHASING OUR TEMPLATE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS Our template agreements cover receptionists, nurses, administration and practice managers in addition to doctors or professional providers. This can save you a lot of time and money in legal fees and sourcing experienced professional advice.

Email us at pa@healthandlife.com.au if you wish to purchase template service agreements as described in this edition.

2.0 New Topics and Seminar Dates – 2009/10 New Topics!

Australia’s most successful practices will have some of their trade secrets presented at our Practice Sustainability Series. Go to our website for an updated 2010 new seminar topics list with descriptions. You can forward this to your local healthcare association and we can do the rest and arrange a local presentation near you. See our website at www.healthandlife.com.au home page under “Special Announcement” for more details under Seminars. We have now introduced a full day seminar on all three Awards plus the NES with practical healthcare specific explanations as well as strategies.

2009/10 Presentations Below is a summary of dates for our seminars across Australia. At each seminar there is an opportunity to meet with us face to face to discuss any practice issues you may have at no obligation. Email us at pa@healthandlife.com.au to pre-book an appointment.

If you would like your local medical organisation to host a seminar, send them the attachment with our seminar details and copy us at pa@healthandlife.com.au into your email. We will contact them directly about presenting in your local area. We thank you in advance for your interest and support. You would be surprised how it only takes one person to make things happen!

New programs confirmed for the rest of 2009/10 are detailed below.

Please contact the organisations directly for details about the course program, content and costs. More seminars will be announced during the year.

Host and Where

Date

Contact Name

Contact Details

Topics

1 Southern Division of General Practice GPNS

November 26, 2009

Joslyn Hibberd

(08) 8374 7018 jhibberd@sdgp.com.au

The NEW Fair Work Act

see our website home page Special Announcement for a copy of the flyer

SA

2

3

Melbourne East GP Network VIC Bankstown GP Division

The National Employmen t Standards The New Health Professiona ls and Support Services Award 2010 The New Nurses Award 2010 The New Medical Practitioner s Award 2010

TBA - 2010

TBA

TBA

Practice Sustainability Program

TBA - 2010

TBA

TBA

Practice Sustainability Program

NSW

3.0 NEW 2010 WEBINAR SERIES - Tackling the Super Tsunami of Change!

We will be working hard in the industry focussing on more news alerts and a national quarterly interactive webinar series. It is starting to become very difficult to keep you up to date via these News Alerts so we hope can do a better job through our face to face presentations (don’t forget to pop your local organisation an email of support if you would like us to present at your next meeting) in addition to those of you who can’t make them. If you are interested to know more email us at pa@healthandlife.com.au to be placed on a wait list for more information on topics and dates. To get an idea of the topic contents click here Training & List of Seminar Topics. This will be open to Divisions of General Practice and any other organisations seeking to host group meetings or alternatively you can access the presentations from the comfort and convenience of your home or work computers.

4.0 New Free Business Coaching /Mentoring Service – The Good, the Bad and Ugly Report At Health and Life we have been extremely concerned about the tsunami of changes affecting the healthcare industry. From the national hospital healthcare reforms, Industrial Award changes to Medicare Audits.

As result we are pleased to introduce a free 6 monthly teleconference business coaching program for all of our clients who request our “Good, Bad and Ugly” Report in addition to their annual tax and financial returns. We cannot offer this service unless a formal report is prepared. After the end of each year a report will be prepared to discuss the practice’s strategy for the next 12 months. Then after the first six months we check up with you to see how you are progressing and how to fast track any agreed changes.

This offer is available to existing clients and new clients who join our firm in the next 12 months. The Good, Bad and Ugly report is a detailed annual written benchmarking and strategic report that recommends changes to your practice at a macro and micro level. We review issues such as staff productivity right through to maximizing government revenues, succession planning, healthcare reforms and how to best position your practice.

We have decided to introduce this service because it is very difficult to prepare news alert topics on every major issue and it is for busy practitioners. The service is a fast track way of presenting, tailoring and monitoring information for your practice that is relevant and timely. This will make a difference to your bottom line and risk management profile.

Contact us for further information.

5.0 Catching Up with David Dahm and the Team If you would like to catch up with us the next time we are in your neighborhood feel free to email us at pa@healthandlife.com.au or call for a no obligation chat in relation to these or any other issues you may be concerned about. We are planning trips to Melbourne and Sydney in the next couple of months. Alternatively feel free to contact one of our State Offices to arrange a no obligation appointment.

6.0 Where to from here?

1.

Consult your professional adviser in relation to any advice suggested;

2.

If you require any back issues of our news alerts please email us;

3.

If you are not sure about any issues raised in this broadcast contact David Dahm on 1800 077 222 for an initial no obligation consult, or email us at pa@healthandlife.com.au. Health and Life provides comprehensive practice consulting, accounting, taxation and financial planning advice for group practices and individuals.

Which topics would you like to be covered?

If there is a particular topic that you would like covered in one of our future News Alerts, please email pa@healthandlife.com.au and let us know what it is. We will then endeavour to cover your requested topic.

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