COVID frontline workers went unpaid for weeks

Concerns were raised by senior public health workers that the long-running problem risked the state’s COVID response as stressed workers struggled to make ends meet.It is understood hundreds of Department of Health casuals were affected by the payroll system error, with some not paid for more than six weeks.“How are workers supposed to concentrate when they’re broke?” one told the Herald Sun.Workers hired to manage Victoria’s border permit system were affected by the payment problem; however, employees in the contact tracing team were not.Sources told the Herald Sun workers were left in tears over the pay problem as it extended beyond a month with no resolution.

The government blamed the issue on the high volume of recruitment, training and payroll processes needed after 204 employees were hired to respond to the border permit exemptions and increased call volumes associated with the NSW and Queensland border closures.Although no contact tracers went unpaid, Department of Health sources told the Herald Sun the problem could have impacted the state’s overall tracking efforts. “No one formally titled contact tracer was affected by the pay issue but it doesn’t matter,” the sources said.“The government ramped up surge capacity, hired hundreds to deal with this outbreak, many of whom would be direct contact points with public cases.“If a big chunk of the war machine against COVID is flat broke, that’s going to have an effect.”A government spokesperson explained that the Department of Health quickly arranged for “offline payments to be made to the majority of staff” when it became aware of the problems.Not all staff were affected.“They are also working with employees to resolve any documentation issues that may be inhibiting outstanding payments,” the spokesperson said.“This has in no way impacted the Victorian government’s response to the pandemic – the issue did not extend to our hardworking contact tracing team, who continue to meet all national benchmarks.”
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