As you’d be aware, workers in dietetics and nutrition who took annual leave on 27, 28 and 29 December last year have yet to have their annual leave recredited by the Department. This is despite the government’s latest agreements for AHPs and AHAs which state that workers will be given those days as gifted leave if services are shutdown.

Workers weren’t forced to dip into their own leave balance in other areas of allied health where services were shut down or reduced because those agreements were followed properly.

When we signed your agreement the Head of the State Service, Jenny Gale, assured us that if you work in an area with reduced services, you will get the gifted leave. It’s unfair then that dietetics and nutrition workers have had their gifted leave treated any differently.

After many of you voiced your concerns, we wrote to your HR and got them to commit to make sure that your annual leave will be recredited if you took it across any of those three days. They have advised that they will recredit your leave within the next week and we’ll keep pressure on the Department to do so.

By standing together, dietetics and nutrition workers have held the Department accountable and shown them they’ve bitten off more than they can chew when they try to take away your entitlements.