Retroactivity and “COVID bonuses” | “Several thousand” dollars owed to nurses

(Quebec) Nurses from all over the network have been waiting for months for the payment of “several thousand” dollars in retroactive salary adjustment and “COVID bonuses”. Delays that make workers hesitate to respond to the Legault government’s call to counter the Omicron wave.

Fanny Levesque
The Press

The main software used by the payroll system in the health and social services network (RSSS) still fails to pay the retroactive salary adjustment and bonuses due to thousands of nurses in the province since the renewal of their collective agreement on October 10.

The same goes for various lump sums promised by Quebec as part of the fight against COVID-19. Delays and absences of payment are observed everywhere in the network, was able to note The Press.

“We are in 2022, we are going to the Moon… So it is difficult for us to understand that software is incapable of taking amounts that have been owed to us for a very long time already”, deplores the president of the Interprofessional Federation of Quebec health (FIQ), Julie Bouchard, in interview.

The most difficult thing is that the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) is not able to say with certainty when the situation will be restored. “We have no date, no horizon”, denounces M^me Bouchard.

The sums of the retroactive salary adjustment should have been paid no later than January 3, ie 90 days after the entry into force of the new employment contract.

Moreover, the specific premium of 3.5%, granted unconditionally to the 76,000 healthcare professionals, was only paid in certain regions.

For this last bonus, the employer had 45 days to “adjust its payroll system”, a period that has been largely exceeded.

Problems also persist with regard to the payment of lump sums when a full-time nurse agrees to fill unfavorable shifts, evening or night shifts, for example. This bonus – in effect since October – can reach $2,000 for four consecutive weeks of work.

“For many people, we can talk about several thousand dollars [à payer]. It’s a lot of money”, illustrates M^me Bouchard.

“No loss for employees”

The MSSS confirmed to The Press that the “institutions of the RSSS work actively to update all the measures as soon as possible”. The Ministry also assures “that there will be no loss for the employees since the sums will be paid retroactively according to the date of entry into force”.

“Several factors influence the payment of the various incentive measures announced in recent months as well as the terms provided for in the new collective agreements,” writes the MSSS in an email. These “measurements require several developments in computer systems”, it is added.

Corrections have already been made and “others will be soon”, adds the MSSS, specifying that the measures which involve retroactivity over time “are more complex to apply”.

Some establishments mentioned February or March, but employees have no confirmation of when the sums will be paid.

“A real madhouse”

These delays weigh heavily on the morale of the nurses who have been on the front lines since the start of the pandemic. Michèle Lafond is a licensed practical nurse at the CISSS de Lanaudière. She did not receive her retroactive salary adjustment or the 3.5% bonus. Added to this are the unpaid premiums for the evening and weekend shifts.

“Often, joining the payroll system is a real madhouse. There are delays, we leave messages… […] We are given explanations that we end up not understanding anyway. It’s very complicated, very annoying, ”she testifies.

Messages about bonuses and payroll are flowing in health care worker chat groups. Some speak of their motivation which crumbles in the face of delays. Others find it hard to understand the addition of financial incentives while those in place have not yet been paid.

The FIQ notes on this subject that “adherence” to the new incentives deployed by the Legault government to get through the Omicron tsunami “is more difficult” in this context. Quebec announced in early January a package of measures estimated at 500 million to encourage nurses to stay in the fight.

For example, there is provision for double-rate remuneration for an employee who works a sixth or seventh day of work, or a lump sum of $100 for a part-time worker who works a minimum of 30 hours.

“We saw the double rate appear in the last ministerial decree, quotes Julie Bouchard. But adhering to this kind of measure is more difficult because healthcare professionals ask themselves: when will I be paid for this double rate? This has a perverse effect on all current measures and those to come. »

“It takes a firm commitment”

The FIQ is asking the Legault government for “a date” to hang on to for the reimbursement of the sums due, both those related to “COVID bonuses” and those provided for in the new employment contract. “It takes a firm commitment from us, regardless of the solution that will be found to be able to get there,” says M^me Bouchard.

“We can understand that there are a few weeks of difference, but there, we have gone to months. This is unacceptable for us and for our members,” she adds.

When announcing new measures this month, the Legault government pledged that “adjustments relating to premiums [soient] paid as soon as possible. Again on Wednesday, in a weekly meeting with the unions on the subject of the pandemic, the MSSS teams did not provide a timetable or the means to accelerate the payments, despite the requests of the FIQ.