Nurses seek national job-sharing policy

Press, 17 April 1982, Page 6

Nurses seek national job-sharing policy

The New Zealand Nurses' Association will ask the Hospital Boards' Association to bring in a national policy allowing job-sharing for nurses.

At present, some hospital boards allowed job-sharing and some did not, the association’s conference was told yesterday.

The conference agreed that there should be a national policy permitting job-sharing so that, where appropriate, employees could avail themselves of parttime work without loss of status or role.

“Job-sharing gives an option for better coverage with less attrition, less fatigue, more job satisfaction, and shared knowledge and experience,” the conference was told.

The subject was raised by

Auckland delegates who said that the Auckland Hospital Board had been advertising overseas for nurses, while married nurses with children were forced to stay home because of the board’s inflexible attitude about job-shar-ing. ■ • “Women with children who want to work should be able to do so. through job-sharing, and women who don’t have children but who want to work fewer hours should also be able to share jobs." the delegation said.

The association’s chairman, Miss Marie Burgess, said a problem could arise over national policy for jobsharing because there was no central employer with whom the association could negotiate.

“This is one of the problems of the health system in New Zealand," she said.

The North Canterbury Hospital Board is one of those employers allowing job-sharing in its hospitals, “where there is a need." - Job-sharing has been going op in country hospitals in Canterbury for many years. In addition, two' women share a senior post at Christchurch Women’s Hospital and two others share the post of community health adviser at Lincoln. The board’s information officer, Mr. Dennis Dwyer, said yesterday that the board did allow job-sharing, where there was thought to be a need for it. The board also employed many part-time workers.

The understanding with job-sharing was that if one of the women resigned, the fulltime job would then become available. Mr Dwyer said.