The Sleepover Wages (Settlement) Bill is due for its first reading under urgency in Parliament tonight. This is expected to happen at 8.30pm although it may be later than this if previous Bills have a lot of speakers.
The Bill marks almost the end of a 5 year old dispute between the SFWU, the PSA and IHC that went right up to the Supreme Court and at its heart was the question: should disability workers who have to sleep over on the job receive the minimum wage? The answer is yes.
Tony Ryall’s Bill finally sets in place a framework to settle the sleepovers issue between Crown funded employers and their employees, some of the lowest paid workers in the country.
The good news is there’s $27.5m to help Crown funded employers in the health and disability sector settle backpay claims and up to $90m over three years as employers phase in the minimum wage.
This is another piece of legislation being rushed through under urgency but funnily enough I have no problem with this one.
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