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Pay Equity Settlement Implementation

1. Home and Community Support Services Provider Newsletter

29 June 2017 This newsletter is designed to help Home and Community Support Services (HCSS) providers implement the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement. The newsletters go out every week and cover key messages; provide updates on ongoing processes and information on upcoming events. This edition includes:  Thank you  Support after 1 July  What’s happening this coming week  Advance payments  Leave liability: report to run  ‘NotPetya’ ransomware  Working for Families guidance for employees  Pay equity guidance  Frequently asked questions

Thank you The Ministry of Health would like to thank HCSS providers for working with us on implementation since the Care and Support Worker (Pay Equity) Settlement was announced on 18 April. New Zealand’s HCSS services have received extensive guidance to review. Across the country, those providers have worked closely with the Ministry to pull together important information quickly. For many providers, especially small to medium businesses, this was intensive in terms of their time and resources. We appreciate all the hard work that providers have put in to understanding their obligations and ensuring they are ready to pay workers the new minimum wages from 1 July. This historic settlement recognises the work of the deserving, dedicated and predominantly female care and support workforce.

Pay Equity Settlement Implementation 1 Support after 1 July Support for providers If you have any questions relating to the settlement following 1 July, please contact your funder in the first instance.

A specialist payroll team is available to assist with technical payroll questions. You can contact the team on O4 5709677 or [email protected]

The Ministry has prepared a guide for payroll managers on implementing new pay rates under the Settlement. This is available for download from our website here.

CareerForce (0800 277 486) will respond to questions about qualification translation.

Support for workers Workers are being advised to talk to their employer in the first instance.

If their issue remains unresolved they can contact the appropriate union. The unions will provide advice to members and non-members. The union call centre numbers are: • Aged Residential Care • NZ Nurses Association – 0800 283 848 • E tu – 0800 186 466 • Disability Support and Home and Community Support Services • PSA – 0508 367 722 • E tu – 0800 186 466

Workers can also contact their local Citizens Advice Bureau or Employment New Zealand – 0800 209020.

The Ministry has prepared a one-page ‘Are you eligible?’ guideline for employees, which is available for download from our website here. This is designed to be easily emailed or printed and shared with workers to help them understand what they may be eligible for under the settlement. Please distribute this to your staff.

What’s happening this coming week The focus for HCSS providers over the coming week:  ensuring payroll managers and payroll providers are ready to pay eligible workers the new wages from 1 July  preparing claim forms for employee attendance at union ratification meetings  reviewing the operational policy document  asking the Ministry’s pay equity implementation team any outstanding questions  reviewing the Ministry’s frequently asked questions on the Settlement.

Advance payments Advance payments will be transferred to providers tomorrow. Funds are expected to be cleared in providers’ bank accounts by 3 July 2017.

Providers will need to confirm with their funder that payroll system changes have been made to enable these new pay rates and that new pay rates are being made.

Leave liability: report to run The Ministry will contribute to the impact of the Care and Support Worker (Pay Equity) Settlement on the cost of annual leave and lieu days for public holidays that were accrued prior to 1 July 2017. The Ministry will cover both Health and ACC eligible services.

To do this, we will request information from providers in August. One-off payments will be made in September.

To determine the impact of the settlement on your annual leave and lieu days for public holidays liability, we need to know what your liability is at 30 June 2017.

Please run a report from your payroll system as at 30 June 2017 for each employee eligible under the settlement and store the data.

We will ask that you submit this information to the Ministry in August. Before requesting that you any submit any information, the Ministry will assess the proposed information fields against all twelve principles in the Privacy Act and provide a short-form privacy impact assessment. Your report will need to contain the following data: a) Employee ID Code b) Contracted (Agreed) FTE c) Weekly hours d) Annual leave balance in weeks (excluding accrued) e) Lieu Days for Public Holiday in hours f) Dollar liability of (d) and (e) g) Accrued annual leave balance h) Dollar liability of (g) i) Annual leave hourly rate (last 52 week average) j) Ordinary hourly rate @ 30 June 2017 k) Translated ordinary hourly rate @ 1 July 2017

To ensure that you have the annual leave and lieu days for public holidays information, it is suggested that you : •Generate your report on this Friday or Sunday (depending on when the day your pay run closes); and •Generate your report before you load the new pay equity rates.

Pay Equity Settlement Implementation 3 If you are having difficulty in running this report please contact the specialist payroll team set up by the Ministry to assist you with technical payroll issues. You can contact the team on O4 5709677 or [email protected] Leave and lieu days for public holidays accrued after 1 July 2017 is covered by on-costs and included in the main pay equity cost modelling. Increases in leave liability arising from increases on 1 July 2018 and beyond will not be funded. The contractual approach for distributing funding will be via deemed variation.

‘NotPetya’ ransomware Providers will have received an email yesterday from the Ministry regarding the ‘NotPetya’ ransomware. Its instructions, as below, should be followed closely as a precaution.

A ransomware virus known as ‘NotPetya’ has affected computer networks using Microsoft Windows in many countries around the world. It is similar to the ‘WannaCry’ ransomware virus which spread globally last month.

‘NotPetya’ hasn’t infected IT systems in New Zealand as yet, but that doesn’t mean we can relax. The virus has spread to systems in Australia, so it may still reach our shores.

The virus is encrypting files blocking access to them, then demanding people pay a ransom to get access back. Advice we have received from international sources is not to pay the ransom.

What you need to do 1. It is critical all systems in your network are patched (more information on patching is available here).

2. Inform your staff NOT to:

· click on any attachment or hyperlink in an email unless they are expecting to receive it · insert unknown/unauthorised USBs or mobile devices into workplace computers.

3. Tell us immediately if the virus has infected any of your IT systems by emailing [email protected]

4. Confirm you have received this email by responding to the sender, so we know you have the information to pass onto your staff to prevent the potential spread of this virus.

Queries If you have any queries or concerns, get in touch with your IT provider. If your organisation does not have an IT provider, contact the Ministry of Health call centre in Whanganui on 0800 855 151.

Working for Families guidance for employees Please advise your employees of the following information from Inland Revenue.

Working for Families Tax Credits Your pay increase from 1 July may affect your payments for Working for Families Tax Credits. Make sure you check your family income estimate and let Inland Revenue know if it needs to be changed. This will help make sure you get paid the right of Working for Families Tax Credits and avoid an overpayment. Changes that you need to let Inland Revenue know about include: • an increase or decrease in your family income • the number of hours you and/or your partner work • children coming into, or leaving, your care • a partner change.

You can make changes online anytime through myIR at ird.govt.nz/myIR

Or, you can call Inland Revenue on 0800 227 773, Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday 9am to 1pm. You can now call us from your mobile phone.

Student loans and KiwiSaver If your pay increases you may notice your Student loan repayments and KiwiSaver contributions changing too. An increase in wages is likely to see the amount deducted increase.

If you now go over the weekly repayment threshold of $368 for student loans you may see deductions start happening. Please ensure you are using the correct tax code.

Pay equity guidance Providers have a legal obligation to ensure employees receive their increased wages in the first pay day after 1 July (ie, weekly or fortnightly, depending on their normal pay run).

The Ministry of Health has distributed a significant amount of relevant information to funders and providers.

Please find below a summary of the resources and information available for funders and providers. * Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Agreement * Operational policy documents for Home and Community Support Services * Information for Individualised Funding * Guidance for employees * One-page guideline for employees * Payroll guidance * Guidance for employers on the following frequently asked questions and more is available in the fact sheet available for download from our website here: * Worker and/or service eligibility * Pay band translation * On-costs * Annual leave liability * Casual employees * Training * Other relevant qualifications * Ratification * How the settlement is funded * Employees' other conditions of employment * Work underway to ensure the care and support sector is sustainable

Pay Equity Settlement Implementation 5 Key dates From 1 July 2017: The Care and Support Worker (Pay Equity) Settlement Act comes into effect. Providers have a legal obligation to ensure employees receive their increased wages in the first pay day from their employer (ie, weekly or fortnightly, depending on their normal pay run). From 1 July 2017: Providers will advise funders that they have commenced making payments to employees. Unions will also play a role in ensuring that employees have received the new wages. By 3 July 2017: Providers will receive advance payments. By 14 July 2017: All ratification claims must be submitted to the Ministry. Further information on the process to claim for an employee’s time to attend a union ratification meeting is available by downloading the ratification meeting claim form on this webpage.

Frequently asked questions Frequently asked questions can be found in employer factsheet which is on the Ministry website http://www.health.govt.nz/new-zealand-health-system/care-and-support-workers-pay-equity- settlement.

For more information visit health.govt.nz.

29 June 2017

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