Nurses who answered the Prime Minister’s call will have to reimburse their premiums in full if they take a single day without pay during the year, reveals the application guide sent to the network on Tuesday. They will also see their premiums cut in proportion to absences for sickness or maternity, in particular.
The application guide for bonuses for “the attraction and retention of nursing and cardiorespiratory care professionals” from the Ministry of Health is clear. “Only days without pay lose eligibility [aux montants forfaitaires]. A single day without pay is enough to cause this effect ”, it is written there.
“A single day cancels the $ 15,000”, laments Denis Cloutier, president of the Union of nursing professionals (SPS) of the East-of-the-Island-of-Montreal. “There are a lot of practices in establishments where employers, to discipline employees who do not do OSI [heures supplémentaires obligatoires], put unauthorized absences. And it is considered unpaid. “
In its guide, Quebec also specifies that professionals who change establishment during their contract, even if they remain in the health network, would have to reimburse the amounts collected. The document serves as an interpretive guide for the one-year contracts that the government wishes to enter into with healthcare workers. They have until December 15 to indicate their interest.
Since the announcement of incentives for nurses at the end of September, unions and healthcare workers have been waiting for details of the granting of bonuses of $ 12,000 to $ 18,000 to keep nurses in the system. public and to convince 4,300 others to come back.
“When he announced that, it looked so good, but with the passage of time, we saw that the terms did not arrive and we began to doubt,” says nurse Hugo Le, who works at the CISSS des Laurentides and who is a union representative for the Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ).
Now that he’s seen the guide, he’s likening the government’s approach to the popular series Squid Game, in which competitors compete to win a large amount of money, risking their lives. “It’s too easy to be knocked out of the $ 15,000 race. We will leave our skin there, but with nothing [à la fin] », He illustrates in an interview with To have to. “People are angry. The “pro rata” section isn’t that bad, but the “reimbursement” section doesn’t work, ”he adds.
In parallel with the penalties associated with unpaid leave, the guide provides examples of absences that will have the effect of reducing premiums in proportion to the days of work missed. The ministry gives the example of a person eligible for a bonus of $ 18,000 who would be absent for one month of vacation, three months of illness and six months of “internal union leave”. At the end of the year, this person would have to reimburse $ 3,500 due to his absences. Only his vacation and hours worked would thus be taken into account in the calculation of his premium.
” No Sens “
“Do not fall ill, because you will lose your premium,” says Mélanie Gignac, president of the SPS of Montérégie-Ouest. “Someone who has an accident or who leaves [pour aller travailler dans un autre établissement], that’s it: he no longer respected his agreement and he must reimburse. It doesn’t make sense, ”adds his colleague from Chaudière-Appalaches, Laurier Ouellet.
The office of the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, recognizes that absences for illness, maternity and pregnancy follow-up appointments will have an effect on premiums. At the FIQ, the vice-president of the socio-political sector, solidarity and the condition of women, Françoise Ramel, adds that the leave related to salary insurance, the SAAQ and the CNESST will also modify the lump sums. “Who can take this? she asks. You sign something that for a year nothing will happen to you. “Mme Ramel sees Quebec’s approach as “an attack on our rights”. Like several other union representatives, she denounces the approach of the Legault government, which is proposing contracts that will “sweep away the new collective agreement”.
She also says she fears that the incentives will sow the seeds of “bickering” among nursing staff. She gave the example of bonuses – of $ 2,000 per four full-time weeks – to be received by day staff who will accept evening or night shifts. “The others who have been working evenings for years: why don’t they have this bonus? she asks. Can you imagine the iniquity between people? “
Union representatives also denounced the bonus equivalent to 14% of the salaries of executives which will be granted to them in proportion to the time worked. “It is much less restrictive,” emphasizes Denis Cloutier. “It’s direct on their pay. And that equates to a lot more than $ 14,000 ”given executive compensation, added Laurier Ouellet.