Queensland Health payroll system issues - update
Published: 11 July 2011
Nurses welcome refocus on underpayments
Paying working people what they’re owed must come first
The Queensland Government’s decision today (9 July) to refocus its efforts on rectifying underpayments to nurses, midwives and other Queensland Health staff is the right one, the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) said this evening.
The decision to have Queensland Health refocus on fixing underpayments, and stop collecting overpayments for now, follows weeks of pressure from the Queensland Nurses Union, and other unions, for the State Government to take such action. An in-principle agreement, on how to manage that and other aspects of the final stages of the Queensland Health payroll rectification process, was reached at a meeting between union officials and the Premier, Anna Bligh, this afternoon.
The in-principle agreement will now go to next week’s QNU annual conference for consideration and then to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, which will oversee the implementation of any final agreement.
QNU secretary, Beth Mohle, said the focus should still be on those nurses, midwives and other staff who have been underpaid.
“The recovering of overpayments can wait. Employees are entitled to be paid for the work they have done. They require that money to live and pay their bills and that must come first. The State Government is in a better position to carry any money it is owed, than ordinary workers are.
“That is what the QNU has argued since the overpayment collections started and we’ve finally got the focus back on the needs of underpaid staff. That’s some good news, at least, in this ongoing saga.
“The decision to appoint an ombudsman and provide more support for line managers is also a step in the right direction. It is not always easy to work out your pay slips and rosters, especially if you are being asked to look at what might have happened some time ago. So an independent office, such as this ombudsman, should give staff more confidence in the process of calculating and checking underpayments and overpayments,” Ms Mohle said.
This latest breakthrough for the QNU follows its recent success in stopping the heavy-handed use of police to deal with allegedly fraudulent emergency-payment claims during this payroll crisis.
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