One of Australia’s largest aged care providers has committed to back-paying staff for unpaid mandatory training completed outside rostered hours across its 74 nursing homes nationwide, following a dispute in the Fair Work Commission.
The dispute was lodged by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Queensland branch, which argued that Regis Aged Care was required to pay employees for time spent completing mandatory training when it was directed by the employer.
The training in question was typically delivered online and often completed by nurses at home, outside their rostered shifts.
Union members across multiple facilities raised concerns that they had not been paid for this training, that payment would only be made if staff separately notified Regis they had completed it, and that some workers were effectively completing compulsory training in their own unpaid time.
After a conciliation conference last week, Regis advised the Fair Work Commission it was reviewing all unpaid mandatory training undertaken by staff across its nursing homes.
In a follow-up email to the Commission, the provider confirmed it had commenced a nationwide review to identify instances where mandatory training was completed off shift and where payment may be owed under the current enterprise agreement.
Regis has indicated it aims to finalise payments to affected employees by 31 December 2025.
In correspondence to the Commission, Regis’ Aged Care senior workplace relations specialist Nadeem Hekmat said the organisation would use its best endeavours to meet the timeframe. He added that employees with questions about outcomes or payments were encouraged to raise the matter locally so training records could be reviewed, with union involvement if requested.
The union said staff should not be required to chase wages they are already owed and confirmed it would continue to monitor the process, with further action to be considered if all unpaid training is not resolved by the end of December.
