Workers at Providence Northern California say new payroll system has led to thousands of dollars in lost wages

Health care workers at several Providence hospitals in Northern California, including four North Bay hospitals, blasted the company for systemwide payroll snafus that they say are costing employees thousands of dollars in lost wages.

During a Zoom news conference Tuesday morning, employees said the errors in Providence’s new payroll system — launched about a month ago — were leading to numerous paycheck errors, including reductions in base pay, missing or unpaid time off, unpaid hours of work and missing retirement contributions.

Peter Brackner, president of the Staff Nurses Association, which represents nurses at Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, said several newly hired nurses have not received any paychecks since the payroll system, called Genesis, came online July 8.

He said other nurses have seen their incomes reduced in various ways and that Providence has “deleted or pretty much diminished all of the local HR people that can help you. We're down to like two people, and they really don't help.”

The news conference was organized by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents employees at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Healdsburg Hospital, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and other Providence facilities in Northern California. Nurses from the Staff Nurses Association and the California Nurses Association also participated.

Brackner said Providence now has an electronic HR system that is unable to handle the significant payroll problems. “We try to go to our managers to ask for help,” he said. “They don't know how to help us, they just tell us to put in an HR ticket and you're back into this electronic cycle with no one to help you.”

Patricia Flippen, a surgical technician at Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, said that on July 8 she noticed her paycheck was missing 137 hours of on-call pay totaling more than $1,000. On her following paycheck, July 22, Flippen said she was missing another 82 hours of on-call pay, and she still hadn’t been paid her previous missing wages.

“I was very frustrated, stressed and the financial strain was spilling over into the rest of my life,” Flippen said during the news conference. “My kids are counting on me and I made some hard choices like skipping bills to ensure that I could cover my children's basic necessities.”

Providence, one of the country’s largest health care systems, on Tuesday acknowledged the “pay discrepancies” and said in a statement it would issue $500 mitigation payments to 207 employees in Northern California.

Providence said that since going live with its new system, “the vast majority of paychecks that have been issued are correct.” But the provider said there have been some paychecks that have shown incorrect or partial pay.

“In most cases, this is due to routine issues, such as timecard correction forms submitted after the deadline, or no time submitted on a timecard,” the statement said.

Providence said there have also been discrepancies tied to recent changes aimed at modernizing its systemwide compensation program. The company also said some data configuration adjustments must be made to account for the “nuances in the pay structure” at different Providence facilities.

“Providing accurate and timely pay is one of the most fundamental roles that Providence plays as an employer, and we take any discrepancies in paychecks or missed pay incredibly seriously,” the company said in its statement. “Our caregivers work selflessly to provide the care that our communities depend on, and we are deeply sorry that we have missed the mark for some individuals or that we created any kind of hardship or anxiety for caregivers and their families.”

Providence said it’s trying to resolve the issues as quickly as it can, claiming that as of “Aug. 5, most issues have been resolved and correct pay has been provided.”

Lesley Ester, a registered nurse at Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka, said the company is not being transparent about the exact number of “HR tickets” issued by employees. Ester, who is a member of the California Nurses Association, said she has submitted 10 such tickets representing about 250 nurses at St. Joseph Eureka and Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna.

“After six weeks of this, folks are really fed up and don’t know how much more we can take,” Ester said. “Providence has a terrible record when it comes to staffing.”

Tyler Kissinger, an organizer with the National Union of Healthcare Workers, said multiple unions have filed labor grievances against Providence to get the payroll problems resolved. But one union representative said grievances involve a lengthy process.

“The hospital is stalling and trying to put it on individuals to solve problems rather than systematically creating solutions,” Kissinger said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.