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The Nova Scotia Health Authority has reversed course on an unpopular change that affected nurses’ overtime pay.

Prior to February, nurses were paid overtime if they were called in for an extra shift outside their regular schedule, even if they had been away from work on vacation or sick.

That changed on Feb. 1 when the health authority began excluding employees who had days off during the pay period based on a reinterpretation of existing contract language.

The Nova Scotia Nurses Union went public with its anger at the move at its annual general meeting in Truro last week.

NSNU President Janet Hazelton told reporters that nurses were refusing to accept call-ins to cover Saturday shifts amid the overtime change.

In a release Thursday, the authority said effective Sunday, it and the IWK Health Centre will revert back to the previous overtime language in the four collective agreements with nurses and other health-care sector unions.

“We recognize that staffing concerns have been raised and we have listened to those concerns,” said Carmelle d’Entremont, NSHA vice-president of people and organizational development, in the release.

The authority said the unions rejected two previous offers addressing the overtime issue after the unions lodged grievances.

“This will allow us some time to work with unions on resolving this outstanding issue and also to address some of the staffing concerns in the system, such as continuing to work on recruitment and attendance management strategies, and scheduling processes to best manage the use of overtime,” d’Entremont said. “We all want the same thing, which is to be in the best possible position to provide safe, quality care for our patients.”

Authority officials and representatives of health-care unions will speak on the issue at a news conference this afternoon.

In 2018, $19.145 million was spent on registered nurse overtime even though $4.195 million had been budgeted. That same year, $2.723 million was spent on overtime for licensed practical nurses compared with the $512,000 that was budgeted.

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