Staff at Te Toka Tumai Auckland (the former Auckland District Health Board) were the first to receive their remediation pay. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Hospital staff in some regions owed years of back pay for breaches of the Holidays Act will have to wait until next year to get it.
Staff at Te Toka Tumai Auckland (the former Auckland District Health Board) were the first to receive their remediation pay, money going into their bank accounts on Friday.
Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa told the board this was the start of "the first wave" of remediations.
"I'm really pleased to have started that journey, and it's very important that we move quickly to remediate."
Since 2016, thousands of companies and agencies have had to pay out hundreds of millions in back pay for breaches of the complicated Holidays Act. RNZ revealed in November the remediation bill for hospitals had almost doubled since 2021, to $1.8b-$1.95b for their 270,000 staff.
The government ruled out interim backpay to hospital workers in 2020.
In a written statement to RNZ, the agency's chief people officer Andrew Slater said current staff at Te Toka Tumai Auckland would be receiving all their legal entitlements for their leave from Saturday.
"Around 13,000 people work in Te Toka Tumai Auckland, but not everyone received a payment as some people have been paid correctly over the years," he said.
Margie Apa. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Information about remediation payments, including the number of people to receive payments and the total amount paid, would be published on Te Whatu Ora's website after September and updated as they were worked through across the country, he said.
"Payments to staff in other districts will be made progressively over the coming months through into next year. In line with the Health Workforce Plan 2023/24, we expect to complete remediation payments for all current staff by March 2024."