The Queensland Government has announced that it will focus on rectifying underpayments to Queensland Health staff, including nurses and midwives.

 

The decision to have Queensland Health refocus on fixing underpayments, and to temporarily halt the collection of overpayments for now, follows pressures from health unions across the state. 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 Premier Anna Bligh.

 

Key elements of the agreement include:

  1. A moratorium on the recovery of previously notified overpayments
    To allow employees to work through disputed claims and underpayments over a period of time without the need to worry about having to pay back money in the interim (unless, that is, employees choose to pay back the alleged overpayment).
  2. A change of focus from overpayments to improving how underpayments are handled
    Including better reconciliation of underpayments and performing case management at the payroll hub level. Service standards will outline timeframes for payment of underpayments.
  3. The appointment of an independent and external Workplace Ombudsman
    To mediate between Queensland Health and staff to rectify ongoing pay problems and to deal with staff complaints about the process and Queensland Health’s response. This will be overseen by the independent workplace umpire, the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
  4. Increased resourcing for NUMs and Line Managers
    To enable them to be able to interact with the pay system, which is currently occurring at the expense of time spent on core duties. The government has acknowledged “the complexities and challenges associated with managing payroll issues”.
  5. New pay adjustment arrangments and a trial of changes to pay adjustment processing timeframes at a small number of agreed sites
    To determine if the number of overpayments and underpayments resulting from roster adjustments each pay period can be reduced. Conference Delegates were assured by the Health Minister, and Queensland Health that trial sites would be agreed only after consultation occurs with members in the affected sites.
    The creation of a legally enforceable mechanism (that may include an award variation) to process adjustments from prior roster periods when generating the pay with a cap on the recovery amount before an overpayment is generated.

 

The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission will oversee the implementation of the final agreement.

 

Queensland Nurses Union 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."

 

The draft Heads of Agreement is available here.