Up to a hundred Paramedics in Sydney’s South East may have to isolate after one of their colleagues returned a positive COVID test this week. The Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) is calling urgently on NSW Health to put an end to financial penalties for staff ordered to isolate due to exposure in their workplace.
“My thoughts, and those of every NSW Paramedic, are with our colleagues impacted by workplace exposure to the virus,” said APA (NSW) President Chris Kastelan.
“We’ve now had at least five Paramedics return positive test results, and hundreds more have been affected by the need to isolate after exposure in their workplace.
“Paramedics place ourselves on the frontlines of this pandemic every day. We knowingly take on the risk of exposure to be there for our communities. But the toll this takes on us and on our loved ones is substantial.”
“It’s impossible to overstate the burden that our frontline staff and families are already being asked to shoulder.
“To be penalised financially for risks we take on in our workplace is both distressing and insulting.”
The union says that staff required to isolate typically lose up to 30% of their income—due to the difference between the ‘base rate’ they are paid while isolating and their projected roster, which includes penalties for night shifts and weekend work. Other forms of leave, including annual leave, are paid at the projected roster rate.
“This Government should be doing all it can to ensure Paramedics exposed to COVID in the workplace are well cared for, and to insulate their families as much as possible from the significant stresses that this brings.
“Instead, Paramedics are copping a pay cut—right when they are also contending with uncertainty, fear, and isolation from their loved ones.
“We rely on shift penalties to support our families.
“How does the Government think this is an appropriate way to treat our frontline workers?”
APA (NSW) has consistently been calling for staff to be paid at their projected roster for any work-related isolation requirements, included in an August letter to Health Minister Hazzard signed by thirty union Delegates .
“As the Delta outbreak continues to grow, more and more staff stand to be affected by this cruel policy. This latest case only emphasises that it’s high time NSW Health took responsibility and stopped penalising frontline workers for the risks they ask us to accept.”
