Healthcare workers across Hackensack Meridian Health Demand Paper Paychecks until Glitches are Fixed

Nurses and healthcare workers frustrated by a multitude of payroll miscalculations walked into HMH Administrative offices on April 29, 2019 at three different HMH hospitals to demand that NJ’s largest non-profit healthcare corporation revert to paying employees with paper paychecks until the software system is fully corrected.

“Hackensack Meridian employees continue to diligently provide care, despite not knowing if they will be accurately paid for their time worked. The burden for this error must no longer be placed on employees. The corporate headquarters must take responsibility for the mistakes created by the software they implemented on a massive system wide scale,” said Debbie White, HPAE President.

Across the HMH system employees have experienced hardship and personal challenges due to the miscalculations in pay resulting in a loss of wages. HPAE has filed charges against HMH with the Wage and Hour Division of the NJ Department of Labor in addition to grievances that have been filed on behalf of HPAE members who were not properly paid.

Healthcare workers’ stories

Meghan Davison, RN, HMH JSUMC

“I don’t know how we will manage.” Meghan and her husband are making difficult decisions about where they can cut expenses. With Meghan affected by Hackensack Meridian’s payroll errors and her husband temporarily disabled after complicated hip surgery, the situation is beyond challenging. “I’m exhausted. My maternity leave has been so stressful. I was hoping to focus on recovering and spending time with my children before returning to the chaos of being a working mom. It’s unbelievable.”

Meghan Davison, RN, who recently gave birth to her newborn son was devastated to receive a paycheck short $600. “As nurses and healthcare workers, we work every day caring for our patients and it is unjust that we are not being paid for the care we give our community. It’s just wrong.”

Maria Córdoba, PCT, HMH PMC

Maria Córdoba, a Patient Care Tech (PCT) in the HMH Palisades Medical Center Emergency Room, was on medical leave when she found her paycheck was short $500. After a recent ambulance trip landed her with an $800 medical bill, her doctor’s advice to avoid stress is hard to follow. “Stress directly affects my health condition by causing spasms, but I worry that my medical bill will be sent to collections, negatively affecting my credit score for who knows how long. I’m sick. It’s so stressful. Come and see my empty refrigerator. I can’t tell my girls not to get hungry.” The family feels fortunate they were able to cover their April mortgage payment with some help from their extended family but is concerned about the future. After following the process to apply for disability given to her by her employer, she was informed that her disability request has not been processed correctly either. “I give 100% taking care of my patients, why are they not paying us what we deserve to be paid?”