Thanks to your union, a process is underway to make sure you get what you are owed.
Since 2016, health unions have been working with the Ministry of Health to agree on a process to check your holiday pay has been paid properly and to pay back anything you are owed. This will put right a decade of underpayments to health workers as a result of mistakes due to non-compliance with the Holidays Act.
This affects around 100,000 health workers, including our directly employed DHB maintenance, cleaning, catering, orderly’s, laundry, stores, driving, and security staff.
Initial sampling by DHBs indicates that between $550- $650 million is owed to both former and current health workers. E tū has been part of negotiating a signed agreement with DHBs, the Ministry of Health, MBIE, and other health unions, which outlines a process to ensure you get the pay you are owed.
This agreement includes:
- agreement on the interpretations of the Holidays Act and calculations
- back pay to 2010 of any money owed
- inclusion of all types of payments such as allowances, relevant daily pay, and average daily pay across various leave entitlements
- a transparent process done by auditors with union representatives and delegates involved
- a requirement that every DHB must have started this review by April 2020.
It will take time to clarify who’s owed what and to timetable repayments. It’s a complex job involving more than 100 different collective agreements and a range of rostering, allowances and overtime provisions which have changed over time.
The work is expected to take 12 to 24 months to put right, but you will be paid what you are owed!
What about DHB contractors?
In 2016, we raised the issue of Holidays Act compliance with the DHB contractors who employ E tū members. Now that there is an agreed process with the DHBs, we have asked the contractors to undertake a similar process if they have not already done so. We will update you as we learn more.
Please note: if you were directly employed by a DHB at some stage since 2010 then you will be part of the DHB review as well.
Click here to read the Government’s media release.
Click here to read a useful article about Holidays Act non-compliance.