GOVERNMENT through the Health Service Board (HSB) has communicated its intentions to remove unclaimable night duty allowances for healthcare workers, a move that is likely to further dampen morale among healthcare workers.
Staff Reporter
Responding to the Apex Panel’s request, the HSB Executive Director, Ms Ruth Kaseke said the changes were effective April 1, 2021.
It is noted that the Health Sector Bipartite Negotiating Platform meeting of April 7 2020, Apex Panel requested for review of Health Sector Specific Allowances. Please be advised that treasury has affirmed its position, as communicated to the board in letters dated 7 January 2020 and March 2 2020 and as communicated in previous Bipartite meetings, that the review of health sector specific allowances will ideally take subject to changing the payment framework for the allowances from non-claimable to claimable.
“You may note however that treasury acknowledged that the only nurse managers and special health allowances may remain non-claimable due to the nature of allowances. It is in this regard that Oncall, Nigh-Duty and Standby/Callout Allowances have to be claimed on a monthly basis after review,” said Ms Kaseke.
The move also comes barely five months after government removed more 1000 nurses from payroll after they defied government’s order to rivet to normal working hours following the scrapping of the flexi hours regime.
