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EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL LAW — Awards and enterprise agreements — Applications for new awards for nurses, midwives, and assistants in nursing — Remuneration claim — Gender Undervaluation — Consideration of the fiscal position and outlook of the NSW Government — Consideration of the state of the economy of NSW — Appropriate increase to account for the changing value of money over time — Whether awards undervalued on the basis of gender — Approach to determining gender undervaluation claim — Assessment of the invisible skills of nurses — Work Value Changes Principle — Detailed consideration of various claimed changes to the work value of nurses — Approach to consideration of attraction and retention — Interstate rate comparison — Consideration of overall appropriate remuneration increase in light of changing value of money, gender undervaluation, and work value changes — Claim for increased sick leave — Sick leave claim rejected — Claim for award clause requiring compliance with flexible work arrangements policy — Flexible work arrangements claim rejected — Claim for cribbing away allowance — Where two group of workers, working side by side, are affected by the same detriment, but only one group has detriment addressed by an allowance — Cribbing away allowance claim allowed
Leo Saunders of Greenway Chambers led Lucy Geddes of 6 St James Hall for the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association. Bronwyn Byrnes of 6 St James Hall appeared for the NSW Health Secretary, led by Simon Meehan SC and with Emily Aitken, both of State Chambers. The decision is available here.
