Pissed off COVID unit nurses with Scripps Well being are lastly beginning to be paid for extra time and double-time hours they labored greater than three months in the past, in the course of the peak of the Omicron surge. It is going to be shut to a different month, nonetheless, earlier than they’re paid off in full for cash they earned in December and January.
The delay stems from a ransomware assault on Kronos, the skin vendor that operates Scripps’ payroll system. The assault occurred in early December.
NBC 7’s Artie Ojeda explains the dynamics of the assault, and why it is troubling for well being care staff.
“As soon as our Kronos timekeeping system was again on-line on Jan. 16, we started the method of getting into the precise hours labored in the course of the outage into Kronos and acquiring worker and supervisor approvals on all timecards,” reads a March 9 e-mail despatched to workers from Scripps Well being human assets. “That effort has now concluded, and a radical overview of the hours labored in the course of the outage has been accomplished.”
Based on the identical e-mail, owed cash will probably be paid out over three paychecks, the final on April 11.
The delay has been a supply of frustration for nurses like Laura Galan, who mentioned she is owed $3,000.
Scripps workers inform NBC 7 they’ve now been impacted by the cyberattack. NBC 7’s Artie Ojeda explains.
“I’m so pissed off as a result of I really feel like we did all the pieces for our group and the hospital will not be responding,” mentioned Galan, a nursing assistant at Scripps Well being in Chula Vista.
NBC 7 additionally spoke to a nurse in January who mentioned she was owed $5,000.
“We dwell in a present state of traumatic stress, so to not be paid and proceed to combat this struggle, day in and day trip, it’s a slap within the face,” mentioned the nurse, who didn’t need to be recognized.
After the December hack on the payroll system, Scripps Well being activated what it calls “downtime procedures.” Briefly, workers have been paid the identical amount of cash earned on earlier paychecks in November, however their checks didn’t embody any extra time or bonus cash earned in December and January, leaving nurses to marvel once they would obtain their pay.
“I’m pissed off as a result of, after all, everyone wants cash, and I’m ready for cash to do issues, and it’s three months already, so it’s so irritating,” Galan mentioned.
Based on the Scripps Well being e-mail, the primary fee of owed cash was despatched out March 14, with subsequent funds due on March 28 and April 11.
Though the problem of extra time and double-time pay has been resolved, nurses say they nonetheless haven’t been notified when they are going to be paid incentive cash for working double-time shifts within the COVID unit. A Scripps Well being consultant, nonetheless, mentioned the problem is being resolved.
“Labored shifts that meet standards for documented staffing incentives are being assessed at the moment and slated to be paid in one of many payrolls by the tip of April,” mentioned Scripps spokeswoman Janice Collins.
