‘It is now time to bring this inequality to the light of day’
Public-sector nurses paid differently for same jobs
Newfoundland and Labrador nurses are crying foul over unequal pay, and this time it has nothing to do with being paid less than private agency nurses.
This time it’s about publicsector nurses being paid less than other public-sector nurses despite doing the same job for the same employer.
The nurses are fed up, and they’re putting the blame squarely in one place: the provincial government’s Job Evaluation System (JES).
The system was set up in 2015 to ensure internal equity and pay equity.
Not so, say the nurses.
“I do feel this is the time to speak up and let the public know the injustice that nurses across the island are experiencing,” one nurse wrote in a recent letter.
This was the issue that led the Opposition’s line of questioning in the legislature Tuesday.
‘THIS IS THE FIRST I’M HEARING OF IT’: FUREY
Progressive Conservative Leader Tony Wakeham recognized Equal Pay Day, a day designated to take action on the gender wage gap.
The April 16 date symbolizes the average additional time it takes for women to earn what men earned in the previous year.
“On Equal Pay Day I ask the premier: Why are chemotherapy nurses in rural Newfoundland and Labrador paid less than chemotherapy nurses in St. John’s?” Wakeham asked Premier Andrew Furey.
“With that particular operational issue, I’m happy to take it back to see why there is a discrepancy and if there is, we’d be happy to take action to try to correct it,” Furey replied.
Wakeham insisted there is a discrepancy because nurses contacted his party about it.
“So, again, I ask the Premier: Why is this Liberal government discriminating against rural Newfoundland and Labrador chemotherapy nurses?” Wakeham reiterated.
“Again, if there is a discrepancy, we’re happy to take that back and happy to discuss with the minister of health and Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services to ensure that those pay equity discrepancies are fixed. This is the first I’m hearing of it, today,” Furey replied.
‘IT’S NOT EQUITY’
The Registered Nurses’ Union (RNU) told The Telegram that the union has been raising the issue with the provincial government since the JES was implemented in 2015.
And while Wakeham focused on chemotherapy nurses in his line of questioning, RNU president Yvette Coffey said the issue is more widespread, affecting a range of nurses across the province.
Coffey said there are many examples where nurses are being paid differently despite doing the same jobs.
“It’s not equity,” she said. “It’s very arbitrary.”
Coffey said that at the time the JES was implemented everyone wanted a new system, and it was needed because the former one was outdated, but the RNU has had issues with it since it began.
“We’re still having conversations as recent as this past month about this with government,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Coffey said that under the new JES, workers were asked to describe their jobs, but workers in different places used different words to describe their work, even though they did the same job. She said because of that they ended up being classified for different rates of pay.
Coffey said when workers complain to the provincial government about this, they don’t receive a rationale for exactly why their pay is different.
“The lack of transparency is very perturbing to not only us, but to any government worker who’s not getting paid at the same rate of pay for the same work.”
UNION CALLS FOR REVIEW
It’s not the first time publicsector workers have raised concerns about the JES. Most then as d sociation recently, for Allied Health Professionals (AAHP) was close to going on strike this year because of it. That AAHP also cited pay inequity as their biggest concern with the JES.
Coffey said the pay inequities affect recruitment and retention, and she would like to see a review of all job classifications, not just within nursing but with other jobs as well.
“To look at the job classifications to ensure that they’re getting paid equitably, and getting paid for the work that they do,” she said.
Coffey said she was happy and intrigued to hear Furey talk about fixing the discrepancy “because we’ve been asking government for this now for quite some time.”
INJUSTICE FOR NURSES
After question period, outside the House of Assembly, Wakeham told reporters that nurses feel like they’re being undervalued.
“If you got to do the same training, if you got to perform the same work, then one would think you’d be getting equal pay,” Wakeham said.
The Tories provided reporters with a letter sent to them by one concerned chemotherapy nurse. The nurse’s personal details were redacted.
“With all the focus on nursing retention … I feel it is now time to bring this inequality to the light of day and not go unheard as we have been,” the nurse wrote.
PAY EQUITY LEGISLATION NOT IN FORCE
While the provincial government passed the Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Act in 2022, most of the act is still not proclaimed into force. Only a small section of it pertaining to pay equity for core government workers is in force.
This means the act is currently not in force for any public-sector workers outside of core government. In terms of nurses’ pay, it means the pay equity legislation is not in force for them.
The Telegram asked Furey for his thoughts on this — whether he believes that if the pay equity legislation was already in force for all publicsector workers, this issue might be addressed.
He reiterated what he said in the legislature: that it was news to him that there is pay inequity existing in an agency, and the government will look at it.
NO TERMS OF REFERENCE
Furey also said a pay equity officer was appointed to enforce the rules.
The Telegram pointed out that the officer can only currently look at core government because that’s the only part of the legislation that’s in force.
“That’s a concern for us,” he said.
The Telegram asked when he expects the legislation to be in force for the rest of the public sector.
“We’re hopeful that that will be addressed in these regulations,” he replied, referring to the regulations currently being worked on by officials across a few government departments.
Those regulations must completed in order for much of the legislation, including pay transparency, to come into force.
A recent access request filed by The Telegram confirmed that the Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Working Group — the interdepartmental group tasked with working on policy options to inform the regulation drafting process — does not have a terms of reference to guide its work.