FAQs: Working Arrangements

There are no longer any current Chief Health Officer (CHO) directions around COVID-9. However, Queensland Health has retained its policy and procedure regarding healthcare workers and COVID-19. QH can only ask an asymptomatic COVID-19 positive employee to return to work if they have asked for and received an exemption from the isolation requirements under the CHO Direction. This would only apply in extremely rare circumstances if you are a highly specialised clinician and a patient’s life is at risk and you are the only person with the skill to treat them.

If you have COVID-19 and are asked to return to work, tell your manager that this is not allowed, except in the above circumstances. If they insist, contact the QNMU for assistance.

The current Queensland Health Managing Healthcare Workers Exposed to or With COVID document is dated 1 November 2022.

Under this procedure, health workers who are deemed a close contact can return to work with some restrictions and protections in place, which are outlined in this document .   

Specifically, as a first option close contacts should work remotely. However, if this is not possible, the expectation is that they return to their workplace (provided they are not symptomatic).  

Queensland Health

The policy outlines the agreed principles, including that nurses and midwives’ safety is paramount, staff should always work within their scope of practice, and all efforts must be taken to provide staff with flexibility and appropriate consultation. Also agreed is that existing entitlements will be maintained, and all changes are temporary.

Click here to read the full policy.

Private hospitals

Your employer can request that you be deployed to another location, unit, area of practice or another suitable role to maintain provision of care, provided you continue to work within your scope of practice. 

If the deployed area is a different area of practice, you must remain within your scope and you must notify your manager regarding any nursing activities relevant to that area of practice that you do not have demonstrated competence in. Nursing and midwifery managers also have a mandatory professional responsibility under their codes of conduct to ensure they do not deploy nurses or midwives to an area of practice that is outside the person’s scope.

Your employer must provide you with as much notice as possible about any deployment arrangements, and must take into consideration your individual circumstances, such as family/caring responsibilities and that any additional travel time is completed during the shift as originally rostered.  Your employer should also consider any additional costs that you may incur as a result of being deployed, and cover these costs.  

If you have any concerns about what you are being asked to do, talk to your line manager in the first instance. If you do not receive an adequate response, contact the QNMU.

Queensland Health has released guidelines for employees  who may be classed as ‘vulnerable persons’. Employees may be at increased risk from the effects of COVID-19 if they:
 

• are 70 years and older 
• are 65 years and older with chronic medical conditions.
• are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person who is 50 years and older with one or more chronic medical conditions 
• are significantly immunocompromised or taking immunosuppression therapy
• have a medical condition and their doctor has advised in writing (provided a medical certificate) that they are at an increased risk and require work adjustment. 

Pregnant employees may also be at increased risk – please see the following question on this page relating to pregnant employees.
 

I’m a vulnerable person. What should I do?

If you identify yourself as a vulnerable worker based on the above criteria, then you must:

• Inform your line manager and discuss mitigating strategies to ensure your safety. 
• Complete a ‘Staff in vulnerable groups’ form (contained at the end of the guideline), including details of mitigating strategies discussed with your line manager.
• Provide the completed form to your line manager.

 
What strategies can be employed to ensure my safety?

Where possible, your employer should seek to implement temporary, short-term and reasonable adjustments, such as:

• Removing you from high-risk work areas
• Redeploying you to undertake alternative duties within the HHS
• Support you to work from an alternative location or work from home.

 
A note on information you provide to your employer

The information an employee is requested to provide should only be used by your employer during the response to COVID-19 and only to manage employee safety and wellbeing in accordance with work health and safety (WHS) obligations.

Unfortunately, there are no black and white answers to this. Pregnant women are considered a vulnerable group for severe illness and complications from COVID-19 infection, and should therefore be supported in their health and work decisions. 

If you are pregnant, you may continue to work, but your individual circumstances must be considered on a case-by-case basis through a work environment assessment. 

Queensland Health acknowledges the following: 

“Frontline health care staff are at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19 than the general population and pregnant front-line staff require special consideration. All pregnant staff should follow COVID19 guidance as this applies to all staff.” 

Pregnancy during the pandemic adds a greater burden and stress on women and families. A pregnant staff member’s individual situation and needs must be taken into consideration regarding work practices and areas by their employer. 

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) recommends, “Where possible, pregnant health care workers [should] be allocated to patients and duties that have reduced exposure to patients with, or suspected to have, COVID-19 infection” and that “all personnel should observe strict hygiene protocols and have full access to PPE". RANZCOG also “urges employers to be sensitive to the fact that pregnant women are, appropriately, often anxious about their own health and protective of their unborn baby, and that employers should consider reallocation to lower-risk duties, working from home or leave of absence”.

QNMU members who have not been able to reach a satisfactory arrangement with their employer to minimise their risk should contact the QNMU for assistance.

Click here to read Queensland Health’s guidelines for pregnant staff. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic may result in an increase in nursing or midwifery students being employed, it’s important that students understand their rights, particularly around what they can and cannot do. Importantly, all students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and appropriately fit-checked for personal protective equipment (PPE). 

Students enrolled in their second or third year of an NMBA-approved nursing or midwifery program are likely to have the level of skill and competence to work as employed students. 

It is important that employed students are appropriately employed and supervised and that they work within the scope of their education and competence.

The role of the employed student nurse or midwife is to provide delegated clinical care to assist teams to provide safe, high quality care. 

Employed students must always work under the delegation and supervision of a RN or RM, in addition to their employing organisation’s defined scope of practice and individual scope of practice. 

Click here to read Queensland Health’s guidelines for nursing and midwifery students working throughout COVID-19.
Click here to read the QNMU’s information sheet on student nurses employed as AINs.

If you need to submit a WorkCover claim due to exposure to COVID-19, the QNMU recommends you properly articulate your exposure in a brief statement accompanying your workers’ compensation medical certificate that confirms you provided care to a patient/resident with confirmed COVID-19.
 
You should describe the care activities undertaken, proximity to the patient or resident, the timeframe of exposure, and indicate whether you are aware of any exposure outside of employment.

It is also very important to explain to your doctor what is going on in your workplace in terms of the number of infections for staff and residents. The information given to your treating practitioner will give them the capacity to determine if it is more likely than not your infection was due to exposure at work.
 
Claims are determined on the balance of probability as to whether exposure was more likely than not in the workplace.
 
The QNMU has expressed to both WorkCover Queensland and Queensland Health that the nature of the work performed by health care workers – and therefore their higher risk to exposure – must be factored into any claim assessment process.

Click here to read WorkCover Queensland’s COVID-19 FAQs.

 
The following information has been taken from the Queensland Government WorkCover website:

What information do I need to provide to lodge a claim for COVID-19?

Will WorkCover accept my claim if I am diagnosed with COVID-19?

What is considered a ‘work-related’ exposure?