“They need to make good!,” Wellington nurse and NZNO delegate Mae Gadd told Kaitiaki, at Te Whatu Ora’s Wellington offices. She was holding a giant (physically and financially) invoice signed by more than 6000 NZNO members.
“The waiting has been really long and the nurses on the floor are working so hard. This just makes them really anxious,” she said.
Te Whatu Ora has been working since 2016 to work out entitlements for about 228,000 of its staff / former staff — known as Holidays Act remediation.
‘Our employers aren’t respecting us and communicating with us — we need updates.’
But frustration has been growing as deadlines were missed over and over again. Then it was revealed in August it had stopped hiring consultants needed to complete the work.
Wellington nurse and delegate Hilary Gardner said nurses, midwives and health-care assistants were “sick of patiently waiting” and needed certainty.
“Our employers aren’t respecting us and communicating with us — we need updates.”
‘They are really failing to pay their debts, as they need to by law.’
Meanwhile, she said Te Whatu Ora was continuing to pay workers incorrectly.
NZNO – Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa chief executive Paul Goulter said he hoped the invoice would prompt Te Whatu Ora to pay nurses and kaiāwhina what they were owed, after eight years.
“They are really failing to pay their debts, as they need to by law.”
He wanted to see an “accelerated timeline” with payments approved by Christmas.
Apa told Kaitiaki she recognised nurses’ frustration and disappointment at how long the work was taking.
“Nothing would make me happier than to see these payments being made and the money owed going to our staff.”
Apa said the work was “extremely complex and time-consuming” with wildly varying payroll systems.
But Te Whatu Ora was committed to completing remediation as “as soon as possible”.
She hoped it would completed for current employees by July 2025 and that payments for former employers could begin later this year.
“We are working on pragmatic solutions to get payments out”.