Health
Employees Dental Prosthetists and Dental Technicians (State) Award
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
COMMISSION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Application by Health
Services Union, Industrial Organisation of Employees.
(No. IRC 1765 of 2008)
|
Before Commissioner
Bishop
|
23 September 2008
|
AWARD
1. Arrangement
Clause No. Subject Matter
1. Arrangement
2. Definitions
3. Classifications
4. Transitional
Arrangements
5. Previous
Industry Service
6. Salaries
and Allowances
7. Conditions
of Service
8. Grading
and Classification of Officers
9. No Extra
Claims
10. Area,
Incidence and Duration
2. Definitions
Unless the context otherwise indicates or requires the
several expressions hereunder defined shall have their respective meanings
assigned to them.
"Union" means the Health Services Union.
"Department" means the New South Wales Department
of Health.
"Hospital" means a public hospital as defined
under section 15 of the Health Services Act 1997.
"Service" unless the context otherwise indicates
or requires means service or experience as a Dental Technician before and/or
after commencement of this award in any one or more New South Wales public
health organizations or any other organisation acceptable to the Department.
"Industry Service" unless the context otherwise
indicates or requires means service before and/or after commencement of this
award in any hospital and/or laboratory acceptable to the Department.
"Employee" means a person or persons employed in
any hospital as defined.
"Industrial Committee" means the Public Health
Employees (State) Industrial Committee.
3. Classifications
3.1 Dental
Technician
(a) Trainee Dental
Technician means a person appointed as such who is undertaking the Diploma of
Dental Technology conducted by NSW TAFE or an equivalent course in Dental
Technology.
(b) Dental
Technician Level 1 means a person appointed as such who has successfully
completed the Diploma of Dental Technology conducted by NSW TAFE or an
equivalent course in Dental Technology.
(c) Dental Technician
Level 2 means a Dental Technician who fulfils the following criteria:
(i) having at least
3 years experience as a registered dental technician; and
(ii)
(a) successful
completion of the first year of the Dental Prosthetics course conducted by NSW TAFE;
or
(b) having
qualifications deemed by the Department to be equivalent to the first year of
the Dental Prosthetics course; and
(iii) demonstrating
skills in excess of those required of a Dental Technician Grade 1; and
(iv) being
proficient in, and spending the major part of their time engaged in, one or
more of the following areas of work;
orthodontic appliances;
cast metal denture techniques;
crown and bridge;
osseo-integrated implant technology;
maxillo facial and complicated prosthetics, including
over-dentures, oburators, precision attachments and magnets, occlusal splints,
complete and partial dentures requiring complicated (that is crossbite, class
II and class III jaw relationship) tooth arrangements in balanced occlusion.
(d) Dental Technician
Level 3 means a dental technician who fulfils the following criteria:
(i) having at least
6 years experience as a registered dental technician and maintains relevant registration; and
(ii) successfully
completed qualifications deemed by the Employer to be equivalent to the Advance
Diploma of Dental Prosthetics (these may include qualifications in ceramics,
orthodontics, implants, crowns etc). Equivalency is to be assessed based upon
the hours of study undertaken and the complexity of the course work; and
(iii) show a high
level of competency in the exercise of all the skills of the recognised
training in accordance with the position requirements.
(e) Senior Dental
Technician Level 4 means a dental technician appointed to such a position and
who undertakes the following duties/or role:
(i) meets all the
requirements of a dental technician level 3; and
(ii) manages a
section/unit, which includes the responsibility of supervising the work and
activities of other dental technicians/prosthetists.
(f) Specialised
Dental Technician Level 5 means a dental technician appointed to such a
position and who undertakes most of the following duties/ role:
(i) master or
highly skilled technician with technical skills and proficiency above that
which would be expected of a fully proficient level 3;
(ii) specialist in
an area of their profession and relied on for advice in this field;
(iii) undertakes
complex independent scientific, technical or specialist work and analysis;
(iv) contributes to
the development of standards relating to the sector, program or profession;
(v) develops
technical or professional standards for the organisation;
(vi) provides
professional leadership, education and development of staff in area of
professional expertise;
(vii) routinely
advises senior levels of the organisation on technical issues and solutions
within a functional area; and
(viii) manages complex
and significant state-wide, in-house services provided by dental technicians. (Such services provided
on an Area-wide basis would be managed by a technician at level 4.)
3.2 Dental
Prosthetist
(a) Dental
Prosthetist Level 1 means a dental prosthetist who fulfils the following
criteria:
(i) having at least
6 years experience as a registered dental technician;
(ii) having
successfully completed all qualifications of the Diploma of Dental Technology
and the Advanced Diploma of Dental Prosthetics;
(iii) possesses and
maintains relevant registration; and
(iv) shows a high
level of competency in the exercise of all the skills of the recognised
training in accordance with the position requirements.
(b) Senior Dental
Prosthetist Level 2 means a dental prosthetist appointed to such a position who
has developed specialised skills through additional study or the development of
specialised skills/techniques and who undertakes the following duties:
(i) meets all the
requirements of a dental prosthetist level 1; and
(ii) has a
specialised area of practice such as dealing with special needs patients or
trauma patients with complex prosthetics requirements; and
(iii) may manage a
section/unit, which includes the responsibility of supervising the work and
activities of other dental technicians/prosthetists.
(c) Specialised
Dental Prosthetist Level 3 - means a prosthetist appointed to such a position
and who undertakes most of the following duties/ role:
(i) master or
highly skilled prosthetist with technical skills and proficiency above that
which would be expected of a fully proficient level 2 ;
(ii) specialist in
an area of their profession and relied on for advice in this field;
(iii) undertakes
complex independent scientific, technical or specialist work and analysis;
(iv) contributes to
the development of standards relating to the sector, program or profession;
(v) develops
technical or professional standards for the organisation;
(vi) provides
professional leadership, education and development of staff in area of
professional expertise;
(vii) routinely
advises senior levels of the organisation on technical issues and solutions
within a functional area; and
(viii) manages complex
and significant state-wide, in-house services provided by dental
prosthetists (Such services provided on
an Area-wide basis would be managed by a prosthetist at level 2.)
4. Transition
Arrangements
(a) Existing dental
technicians will have their current duties and qualifications assessed against
the classification descriptors provided in clause 3, in order to appropriately
transfer employees into the dental prosthetist classification structure. There
will be no reduction to employees’ rates of pay arising from this transition
and existing incremental dates will be maintained.
(b) Dental
technicians who obtained prosthetist qualifications under the previous award
provisions will have their qualifications recognised and, if appropriate, their
current grade as a dental technician maintained. However employees who have not
yet commenced nor completed the prosthetist qualification will no longer have
this qualification recognised for progression to level 2 or beyond in the technicians stream of the
classification structure. Employees who have partially completed this
qualification can only rely upon the qualification to progress as a
prosthetist, not as a technician.
(c) Progression to level
3 in the technicians’ structure, and to level 1 in the prosthetist structure,
will require completion of relevant qualifications, the exercise of the relevant skills and the possession of
any relevant license or registration.
(d) The parties will
work together to identify suitable qualifications for progression in the dental
technician classification structure.
(e) The award
classification of Deputy Chief Dental Technician has been deleted but this
classification and salary will be maintained for the current occupant.
5. Previous Industry
Service
Previous industry service shall be taken into account in
determining the commencing salary of an employee to be paid in accordance with
rates set in the Health Professional and Medical Salaries (State) Award.
6. Salaries and
Allowances
Salaries shall be in accordance with the rates contained in the Health Professional Medical
Salaries (State) Award.
7. Conditions of
Service
The Public Hospital (Professional and Associated Staff)
Conditions of Employment (State) Award, as varied from time to time, shall
apply to all persons covered by this award.
In addition, the Health Industry Status of Employment
(State) Award, shall also apply to all relevant employees.
8. Gradings and
Classification of Officers
Nothing in clause 3-Classifications, or clause 4-Previous
Industry Service, shall affect the right of the Union to apply to the
Industrial Commission of New South Wales for the settlement of any dispute
arising from the grading of an employee under this award.
9. No Extra Claims
The parties to this award recognise that the award
extinguishes all work value and special case claims up to the date of making of
this award.
10. Area, Incidence
and Duration
(i) This Award
rescinds and replaces the Health Employees Dental Technicians (State) Award
published 24 March 2006 (358 IG 355) and all variations thereof.
(ii) This Award
shall apply to persons employed in classifications contained herein employed in
or in connection with the New South Wales Health Service as defined in section
16 of the Health Services Act 1997, or their successors, assignees or
transmittees.
(iii) This Award
takes effect from the first pay period commencing on or after 17 September
2008, and shall remain in force for a period of three years.
E.
A. R. BISHOP, Commissioner
____________________
Printed by
the authority of the Industrial Registrar.