New payroll system at Sudbury hospital launches with issues, says Ontario Nurses Association
CBC
A new payroll system at Sudbury's Health Sciences North hospital has launched with a number of issues, according to the Ontario Nurses' Association.
Dawn Armstrong, the association's vice-president for Region 1, which covers much of northern Ontario, said some nurses weren't paid for overtime after switching to the new system, while others had to get pay cheques in person because direct deposit wasn't working properly.
"Direction was given to our leaders on this system because it has caused a lot of headaches for our members out there," Armstrong said. "It is not a great system."
Armstrong said other hospitals in Ontario have used the same system, called Kronos, and had similar issues.
"I think a couple of years ago, Kingston General brought it into their hospital," she said.
"And as I mentioned, there was issue after issue to the point where we filed hundreds of grievances."
Armstrong commended the hospital for finding workarounds when employees could not be paid, such as issuing pay cheques, but said there should have been a back-up in place before it launched.
In an email to CBC News the Kingston Health Sciences Centre said its transition to the Kronos system in 2015 was a "relatively seamless process" because of careful planning before the switch.
"Previously these were manual/paper processes that were undertaken by managers of individual departments and units across the hospital," the email said.
"This system now allows us to schedule our employees based on their individual union's contract and guidelines, track vacation requests and time off electronically and ensure shifts are tracked properly."
Health Sciences North spokesperson Jason Turnbull said in an email to CBC news that around five per cent of the hospital's workforce had issues with the new system last week.
"The majority of these were addressed on our regular pay day last Friday, July 15," the email said.
Health Sciences North is Sudbury's largest employer with around 4,000 employees.
Turnbull said the new integrated scheduling and payroll system was put in place to make the hospital "digitally enabled," which is a key goal in its strategic plan.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.