WRC recommends compensation for social care worker transferred during service reconfiguration

The WRC recommended that an employer compensate a social care worker for earnings lost after her transfer from residential to community services. The recommendation was dated 8 April 2016. The worker had sought the transfer before a residential unit closed and said she expected her terms to be protected. Other staff received compensation under the Public Service Agreements, but she did not. The employer said she had moved voluntarily before the closure and did not qualify. The WRC found her transfer was part of the reconfiguration solution and that she had not been told it would exclude her from the outcome of negotiations. It recommended compensation using the agreements’ formula.