5 October 2010
for immediate release

IHC problems are Government's responsibility says SFWU

The Service and Food Workers Union has called on the Government to abandon the legal fight against payment of the minimum wage for sleepovers in order to give certainty to disability and mental health providers.

"The reason that IHC has been forced to put its trading companies into statutory management is because the Government, as the funder, has sat on its hands and refused to acknowledge that disability support workers have been ripped off for the last 20 years," said SFWU national Secretary John Ryall.

"The Employment Court last year recognised the important role that disability support workers carried out and said that the payment of $34.00 a night for staying on the employer's premise to be on-call for up to five intellectually disabled adults was in breach of the Minimum Wages Act."

"IHC and other community organisations have operated very good services for people with disabilities but these have been based on very low wage rates for the front line support workers because of the inadequacy of Government funding."

"Due to the 2009 Employment Court decision IDEA Services and Timata Hou are accumulating liabilities of about $50,000 a week, which the Government is refusing to fund."

"The chickens are coming home to roost and it is time the Government fronted up and took responsibility for this situation." said John Ryall.

ENDS

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