OCTOBER 2019
CE update
Hui with Waikato Tainui
I recently attended a productive meeting with Donna Flavell, Waikato Tainui CE, and her team at iwi headquarters. I was impressed with their strategic vision and have suggested a number of ways that we could work together. We will be bringing together a subset of our management teams to work through current issues and opportunities to improve Māori health and outcomes and to build on the strengths in the Māori community.
Orientation has taken on a new life Te hono whakataki – our first meeting – is a new approach to what previously seemed like a long day for our new staff in the Bryant Education Centre listening to presentations about the different services.
Holidays Act Compliance
More than 100,000 health workers will have their holiday pay calculations reviewed going back to 2010 with an undertaking that any shortfall will be refunded. Investigations undertaken by the Labour Inspectorate of the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment (MBIE) identified widespread issues for a number of employers that their payroll systems were not complying with the requirements of the Holidays Act. This meant that many employees were not receiving their correct leave entitlements. DHBs, the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS), the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (CTU), Health unions and the Labour Inspectorate have been working together to develop an agreed national audit process. The Holidays Act is complicated, outdated and has caused significant problems for employers and workers alike. For the workforce the Holidays Act presents complexities because of their wide ranging shift patterns and rosters covering a 24 hour a day, seven day week service. For the employers our payroll systems are also inadequate, and the result has been miscalculation of entitlements and noncompliance; this process is designed to address that. A joint approach to resolving this issue was agreed with MBIE’s Labour Inspectorate which includes: • An agreed baseline on how the Holidays Act applies to health sector employees; • A framework on how DHBs will assess and rectify non-compliance; and • A memorandum of understanding that details the agreement between the CTU, unions, DHBs and the Labour Inspectorate.
Te hono whakataki starts with a pōwhiri and even includes dance along the way. People who attended have said it is a ‘warm and inspiring’ welcome to the Waikato. There is also an expo where different services and some external companies have stands for staff to visit.
The 20 DHBs and the NZBS will be grouped into tranches for the review, beginning with the Auckland and Northland DHBs which are already underway. All reviews will be underway by April 2020 and it’s estimated that it will take between 12 and 18 months for each DHB to work through a process to review, rectify and remediate noncompliance issues.
This will evolve over time and the intention is to be increasingly focused on culture and values of the organisation. We hope to also move the event to a marae in the future.
DHBs and the Health unions will also be communicating with DHB employees as and when their reviews get underway, with details of how they can take part and be represented. Waikato DHB’s review is expected to get underway in November.
Industrial action
There continues to be a significant amount of bargaining activity amongst the allied health, scientific and technical workforces. The DHB is currently planning for further strike action from the medical imaging technologist, laboratory worker and psychologist workforces. It can be a challenging and difficult time during these strikes on both sides. I would encourage everyone to remember our values – Whakamana – Give and earn respect. While the DHB support staff members rights to participate in strike action, workers of the same discipline also have the right to work. This is a personal decision and needs to be respected, we all need to be kind and courteous with each
other. It is also important to remember that normal rules apply and staff are expected to continue to follow the DHB policies and procedures especially in relation to privacy and confidentiality. While the DHB has put in place contingency plans in an effort to minimise disruption to patients, prioritising emergency department and acute inpatients requiring diagnostics, this is now starting to have a significant impact on waiting times for outpatient clinics and elective surgery requiring imaging support and for patients requiring cardiac catheterisation. Thank you to everyone for working together during this time to keep our patients safe.
