We have now heard from Integratedliving that the long-awaited auditor’s report into underpayments for minimum engagements may be released by the end of this week.

The wait has been painfully long, especially when the words of the Family Based Care Agreement are crystal clear: a one-hour minimum engagement should be paid, even when Integratedliving provide shifts as short as 5 minutes.

HACSU may well still be in dispute with Integratedliving as to whether back-to-back short shifts count as one engagement for the purpose of minimum engagement or whether each shift stands alone. We argue that both the wording and context of the agreement support the latter, where each engagement triggers a minimum of one hour's pay.

As soon as we have the audit results, we'll be in touch about the next steps. If the audit fails to meet our expectations, we may still seek a court-imposed audit review.

We’re also still waiting for the Fair Work Commission Full Bench’s decision about our application to extend the life of the Family Based Care Agreement. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear the decision.

Stay tuned for updates and if you have any questions, please contact us via HACSUassist on 1300 880 032.