Labor market For years, Hus has paid a different salary for the same nursing work

Helsinki and the Uusimaa Hospital District (Hus) is spending almost three million euros to correct one old pay gap.

Basically, nurses working in some demanding tasks, such as intensive care units and operating theaters, have been paid differently for the same work for years.

At its meeting on Monday, Hus’ board discussed the matter for the past year. This year and the future, on the other hand, are still being negotiated.

At issue was originally introduced in 2004 to recruit staff to fill shortages in certain demanding tasks.

Initially, the supplement was temporary. In January 2014, the supplement was made effective for the time being. At the same time, it was stipulated to apply only to those employees who have started before the end of 2013.

Thus, all those who came to work from the beginning of January 2014 have received 91 euros less per month for the same tasks than their colleagues who have been working for a longer period of time.

Tehy, a nurses’ trade union, demanded redress and threatened to take the dispute to court. Hus’s management justifies the reconciliation in the draft decision, for example, by saying that it is very difficult to dispute Tehy’s claims. You have to get the same pay for equally demanding work.

Therefore, the negotiations have reached an agreement that the salary supplement will be paid retroactively to a number of caregivers for 2017–2021.

The union and Hus will discuss in the spring what will be done about the pay gap this year and in the future.