Vancouvers hospital workers need to reduce their overtime work so as to help ensure quality patient care, and reduce their on-call premium claims as well.
That was the finding of a 2010 audit of all Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) unionized staff, obtained by the Courier through the freedom of information law.
Yet VCH spokesperson Gavin Wilson said most of the problems noted in the audit have been resolved since then with new electronic monitoring systems, which VCH estimates will save it $4.6 million a year.
VCH pays about 19,000 workers every week through its payroll system, for total yearly salaries of roughly $840 million.
VCH collective agreements say nurses must complete 216 hours in three consecutive pay periods to earn overtime pay. But in a review of 16 pay periods, the report said that 853 part-time nurses were paid overtime when they did not complete the 216 hours. (Wilson said this overtime work cost about $459,000.)
Moreover, some employee timecards were coded overtime, vacation and/or regular time for the same hours of work, and such timecard coding errors might have caused overpayments for overtime.
The report noted worker scheduling problems, too. It found that, in 16 pay periods, 28 employees worked above the standard maximum hours of 1,200. Excessive number of hours worked by employees could affect productivity, patient care, and result in high overtime cost.
Auditors observed that 23 employees worked more than the maximum six consecutive shifts allowable, and advised that the workload be more equally distributed: This in turn could reduce overtime and any sick time resulting from burn out.
In 2006, the VCH audit branch first noted that some employees might be paid overtime who did not meet the requirements for it, and management started several programs over the next three years to reduce the amount of overtime worked.
Wilson said in June 2009, VCH created a Regional Staffing Service department, and started an integrated electronic timekeeping and scheduling system that replaced 11 different systems, which discourage the overuse of overtime. Once all registered nurses are on the same system, ones who approach the 216 hour limit will be monitored through routine audit reports.
The auditors also found problems with on-call work.
The health authority paid out $2.6 million for on-call premiums in 2009. Employees have been overpaid on-call premiums, the auditors wrote. A few claimed on-call premiums while they were working regular shifts, and had overlapping claims for these premiums.
The number of employees that are on-call seems excessive, given the number of times they have been called back. Out of 1,798 employees studied, 593 were placed on call but never called back, while 758 workers were called back but less than 10 percent of the time. As well, some employees who were on vacation and sick leave were place on-call, contrary to the standards of their collective agreement.
The auditors advised that on-call payments controls be tightened, and VCH try to reduce the amount of on-call premiums while minimizing clinical risk. Wilson said the new electronic staffing system will prevent inappropriate coding of on-call premiums.
Hospital Employees Union spokesperson Mike Old said HEU members are generally not placed on call, and likely work less overtime than before.
