Great Ormond Street nurses to be compensated for missed unsocial hours payments
Ex-GOSH employees have until January 2019 to submit underpayment claim, according to RCN
Nurses at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London are to receive a cash settlement in this month’s pay packet after their employers admitted mistakes with annual leave payments.
The payments, which range between £50 and £3,423, for more than 1,000 staff, have been recovered from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust by health unions.
Full uplift not paid
Under working time regulations and Agenda for Change, staff who work unsocial hours are entitled to annual leave payments based on an average of their previous three months' unsocial hours payments. However, for at least four years, staff were not receiving the full additional unsocial hours uplift, according to the RCN.
The unions negotiated with the trust for more than a year and rostered staff, most of whom are believed to be nurses and healthcare assistants, will receive an average settlement of £620 in October’s pay.
GOSH has apologised to its staff in an email this week, the RCN said.
Advice for former staff
The RCN believes the underpayments could date back even further than four years, but staff who feel they are owed more will have to go through the county court system.
The trust is not required to contact former employees who may be affected, however ex-employees can process a claim if they submit it before 31 January 2019, the RCN said.
'It is essential trusts check the accuracy and suitability of their payroll systems to ensure nursing staff who work unsocial hours are not hit in the pocket'
Alan Ridley, RCN
The college said changes in how hours are now recorded should mean unsocial enhancements will to be correctly calculated. For non-rostered staff, timesheets have been amended to record annual leave in hours.
RCN senior officer Alan Ridley, who represents affected college members at GOSH, said: ‘We are pleased our members will finally receive compensation for significant underpayments.
‘Additional unsocial hours payments during annual leave are fair compensation for nursing staff who consistently work through the night, at weekends, and at Christmas and bank holidays.
‘It is essential all trusts in London check the accuracy and suitability of their payroll systems to ensure nursing staff who work unsocial hours are not hit in the pocket.’
GOSH has been asked for comment.
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