News
More than a Slip-up: $110K Recovered for Member
Thursday June 13, 2024
The AMA (WA) received several queries from members claiming that amendments to accrued leave balances on their pay slips were being made without any communication or notification to the practitioners impacted. An AMA (WA) member with over 25 years of service had noticed 13 weeks of long service leave missing when he compared his recent pay slips.
Recently the AMA (WA) became aware that an audit had been conducted in relation to the member’s accrued leave balances and as a result, it was determined that our member had erroneously accrued 13 weeks of long service leave from 2000, some 24 years ago.
The practitioner disputed the audit results on the basis that they had not accessed the long service leave in 2001 and did not cash out the entitlement. The AMA (WA) and the practitioner argued that the removal of the leave was incorrect, and a breach of entitlement resulting in a detriment.
To make matters worse, the practitioner did not receive any communication to notify them that 13 weeks long service leave, at a considerable value of $110,000 would disappear from their pay slip.
We wrote to the Employer seeking reinstatement of the leave balance immediately, with 13 weeks to be added back onto their balance. Neither WA Health nor the practitioner had retained records to either confirm or dispute the claim of a payment being made 24 years ago.
As a result of our intervention and our member’s due diligence, the employer reinstated the practitioner’s long service leave balance to include the 13 weeks that had been unilaterally removed.
We advise members to compare current and previous pay slips to identify any anomaly with their leave balances. If you believe there may have been a unilateral amendment to your entitlements without notification, please contact both your Employer and the AMA (WA) IR team.
