An important payroll update from your union
Published: 13 October 2011
We’ve had some movement this week on payroll related matters.
Trialling a process to deal with historical underpayments
Queensland Health yesterday announced that a more comprehensive process to deal with historical underpayments made under Queensland Health’s faulty payroll system will be trialled at The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH).
Under the trial, individual underpayments which occurred before 24 July 2011 will be addressed by a dedicated team of case managers. These underpayments are known as “historical underpayments” as they occurred before the moratorium on overpayments was put in place. Under the moratorium (or halt on the recovery of overpayments negotiated by unions) Queensland Health has committed to not recovering overpayments until strategies to progress underpayments have been significantly progressed and the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission as the independent umpire determines that the recovery of overpayments should recommence.
Given the complexity of the payslips provided under the new payroll system and constantly changing payments, many members have found it difficult to determine if they have been paid correctly. It is hoped that the process being trialled at TPCH will make it easier to identify if any wages are owed as well as ensure the quick reimbursement of any underpayment.
The trial at TPCH will run from today, 13 October to 4 November 2011. A state-wide focus on historical underpayments will be rolled out across all facilities in November once the trial has been evaluated. More information will be provided about this process shortly.
I strongly encourage members at TPCH who believe they are owed wages from before 24 July 2011 to contact the Queensland Health Statewide Payroll Hotline on 1800 239 074 and request an appointment with a case manager. Any underpayments that occurred after 24 July 2011 will still be dealt with via the normal processes at your facility level. These processes must be in place to ensure that you are immediately paid by cash or cheque for any underpayment that occurs. In the first instance, contact the Queensland Health Statewide Payroll Hotline on 1800 239 074 for support.
Focus group for improved payslips
Queensland Health is currently examining ways to improve payslips provided under the payroll system. A number of QNU members are next week participating in a focus group to discuss potential improvements to the payslips.
Industrial action by other unions
Today non-nursing and midwifery union members will rally outside Parliament House as part of their enterprise bargaining negotiations with the state government.
Already some of these members are taking protected industrial action in workplaces as they are legally entitled to do to progress their enterprise bargaining claims.
The unions have been offered a pay rise of 2.5 per cent per year, but they are asking for more.
The decision to hold the rally follows news from earlier this week that more than 800 payroll staff will receive a $5,000 bonus in recognition of the ‘temporary effect of the recent payroll system issue’.
I’ve been very active in the media this week signalling that we will be demanding the same deal for nurses and midwives when our own enterprise bargaining negotiations commence later this month.
While no-one can dispute the hell Queensland Health’s payroll staff have been through, QNU members have been overpaid, underpaid, not paid at all, and even accused of fraud.
No-one has escaped the payroll debacle unharmed, so to offer a bonus to one group of staff and not another is simply unfair. Our hard working Nurse Unit Managers for example, even after 18 months of this mess, continue to battle extraordinary stress to keep the system afloat.
But obviously we are not involved in the current enterprise bargaining negotiations occurring between Queensland Health and non-nursing unions.
If these negotiations don’t progress, it is a very real possibility that non-nursing unions will ramp up work bans next week.
If this occurs, I ask that you do not undertake any work that is normally performed by other health workers that is not occurring because of current industrial action. District management are responsible for preparing and implementing contingency plans in the event of any industrial action.
Stay strong and support your union colleagues during their negotiations, because soon during our own negotiations we might just be asking the same of them.
Escalating payroll matters to the workplace ombudsman
Meanwhile, QNU Councillor Sue Pitman is about to commence supporting the work of the Queensland Workplace Ombudsman in considering escalated payroll matters. The escalation process is aimed at ensuring all internal Queensland Health resolution processes have been exhausted within a reasonable timeframe before an issue is referred to the Ombudsman’s office.
A preliminary process outlining the steps for escalation to the Ombudsman is currently being established. Where an employee is dissatisfied with the time it takes to resolve a matter, or where matters can’t be resolved by Queensland Health, they will be progressed to the Ombudsman under the final step of the escalation process.
Update on the Heads of Agreement
With general agreement now reached on all elements of the Heads of Agreement, it seems finalising this document has taken a back seat to current industrial negotiations.
That said, many of the elements of the proposed agreement are already in place or are being progressed including a refocusing of efforts on underpayments, the appointment of the Workplace Ombudsman to handle payroll complaints and a continuing moratorium on the recovery of previously notified overpayments.
The tortuous negotiation process of recent months has also resulted in improvements to Clause 5 of draft agreement which would require Queensland Health to notify employees of its intent to recover an overpayment and allow employees an opportunity to dispute this. This process will not be implemented until the Heads of Agreement is signed-off.
We continue to conduct separate meetings at the highest level of government in an effort to finalise this agreement. This is an absolute priority for the QNU so that you have certainty around the ongoing payroll debacle.
I know you are running on empty right now. The human impact of the payroll debacle and the natural disasters of summer 2010/2011 is more pronounced now than ever before. Morale is at an all-time low and many of you are struggling to keep your heads above water.
Hopefully you can finally see some light at the end of this long and dark tunnel.
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