By Noel O’Driscoll
STAFF members at Clover Lodge Nursing Home in Athy, who are owed several weeks pay can expect to receive payment this Friday.
The 72 staff should have received payment on 8 February and would be due to receive payment again on 23 February. However, staff at the nursing home have been experiencing difficulty with their payments since December, according to SIPTU industrial organiser John Hubbard.
“The problem goes back as far as December when staff were paid with cheques. This presented staff with difficulties because of the time it took cheques to clear. However, staff were getting past this by cashing them in local businesses. Then staff found that cheques weren’t being honoured and one staff member even had the embarrassment of having to leave her weekly shop behind her after a cheque bounced. This was an issue throughout January and it came to a head on 15 February when the cheques that the staff received on 9 February bounced.”
The company issued a statement last week to the workers apologising for the difficulties in relation to payroll. The statement went on to add that the difficulties were caused by a delay in the registration of Clover Lodge and its sister nursing home in Offaly by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). The company said that they had been expecting the certification since before Christmas and investor funding for the homes was not being released until the certification arrived. Staff continued to care for the 52 residents of the home, despite not having been paid as a resolution to the crisis was being found.
Mr Hubbard said that that the HSE and HIQA were informed of the difficulties at the home and HIQA carried out a visit to Clover Lodge in Athy last Thursday.
“HIQA visited and saw that the staff were being well cared for and they thanked the staff for their efforts. That evening the HSE informed us that the registration certificates were being sent out. I went into negotiation with the owners of the home and agreement was reached last Thursday night that the company would honour all wages due on 8 February and 23 February by Friday 24 February. The staff are paid fortnightly and they agreed to work as normal until 24 February when they will see if they have been paid,” said Mr Hubbard.
The 72 staff include 65 non nursing staff who are employed for activities such as catering, household and in supervisory roles. At present 52 out of 59 beds are occupied and care is given on a 24 hour shift basis.