Nurses offered pay raise from DHBs, warning signs proposed when under staffed

Nurses took to the streets in June to demand fair pay and safe staffing. Photo / George Head

Nurses will this week start discussing a new pay offer from district health boards, which puts forward more than $13,000 extra for each member.

This includes an increase of $5800 for all stages on the pay scale, and a lump sum of $7300 for all who were members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) on September 17.

In a bid to address nurses' concerns of safe staffing, district health boards will also be required to display public warning signs when they are understaffed at the beginning of each shift.

In a summary of the new offer for its members, NZNO said the proposed measures for staffing were "significantly better than the last offer", including a contractual obligation for DHBs to enforce safe staffing levels.

NZNO will discuss the new offer over the next two weeks beginning on Monday.

Pay equity and safer staffing have been the ongoing concerns that drove nurses to walk off the job in June this year.

The following month they rejected a pay offer from DHBs, with NZNO lead advocate David Wait saying it contained "too many ambiguities".

The union had a second strike planned for August 19, which was cancelled when the level 4 lockdown was announced.

The new offer includes a definition of an "acute staffing shortage" based on objective measures, and nurses could expect services and volumes to be eased when this threshold was met.

It would also make acute staffing shortages visible to the public by requiring DHBs to display this information when understaffed.

DHBs would also have to immediately advertise nursing positions identified in staff calculation reports, reducing delays and periods of under-rostering.

In regards to pay, the offer proposes increasing base rates for all steps by $5800, which included a pay equity component of $4000.

An additional lump sum of $7300 included a pay equity lump sum of $6000.

NZNO also indicated pay rates would increase "significantly" through pay equity negotiations which were under way, and due to be settled by November 30.

The pay equity settlement would determine pay rates from December 31, 2019.

Other changes in the offer included improved sick leave and rostering provisions to allow members more time to rest and recover after working night shifts.

All new graduates would also be offered permanent employment, the offer stated.