The board of Gelre hospitals wants back more than a quarter of a million euros in excess of salary from 225 nurses and other employees. The claim, which in individual cases can amount to almost 20,000 euros, has led to great unrest among employees. They demand waiver of the claim.
The fact that too much salary has been paid is because extra hours have been paid twice. This is the result of human error at the beginning of 2021. Despite questions from staff, this remained undetected for more than a year and has only recently recovered, Gelre hospitals confirm.
The error concerns people who worked so-called shifted shifts last year; working hours outside the regular schedule. This mainly concerns nurses from the emergency room and the intensive care unit. That year, when the work pressure was very high due to corona, they made many extra hours. Reception and secretarial staff, analysts, nutrition and department assistants with shifted hours were also paid too much.
The error only became apparent in February, when an employee thought he had been paid too little and asked questions about it. It was then decided to inform the staff and to make it clear that what has been paid out too much must be repaid. These amounts vary from 19 to 19,500 euros gross. Added up, it comes to 257,000 euros.
Emotions
The hospital sent those involved a letter in early April with options to repay. Emotions ran high at an information meeting this week. When it became clear that the hospital board would not be accountable, the session was ended prematurely. Two more meetings are scheduled for this Thursday to explain to staff how the error came about and what the consequences are.
Financial director Edwin Maalderink late NRC find it painful that he has to ask the staff to refund money. “We have offered our sincere apologies. We are currently looking at the best option with each employee to repay the overpaid salary. We want to emphasize that we are doing everything we can to solve this properly and take into account everyone’s personal situation.”
As far as the hospital is concerned, it has been established that must be reimbursed. Just like if there is a supplementary payment if the salary is paid too little, there will be an additional tax assessment.
Pascal Besselink, an employment lawyer for legal service provider DAS, doubts this. In principle, an employer may reclaim overpaid salary, a so-called undue payment. But: “If employees have asked questions about the salary and have received confirmation that it was in order, they could assume that it was correct. In that case, recovery may be contrary to the principle of good employment practices.”
fairness
The fact that the double payment lasted for a long time in a period that was already administratively complicated – many extra hours, many shifts – can also work out to the advantage of the employees. Besselink: „The extra monthly amount may have been quite small, and now a large amount is suddenly requested back. That may be contrary to reasonableness and fairness.”
Finally, the fact that the excess paid out has already been spent may also play a role. “In that case, a financial problem can arise in the event of reimbursement that is de facto unsolvable for the employee.”
At the recent information meeting, trust in the hospital’s management appeared to have been seriously violated. Nurses still have to work many extra hours to clear backlogs, but they have become reluctant. One attendee: “How can we trust that things will go well and we will not be confronted with a claim afterwards?”