Northern nurses, pharmacists say overtime unpaid for months

Nurses and pharmacists in the Northern Division claim they have not received overtime pay, as the Ministry of Health works to stretch its overtime budget until July next year.

Since September, medical staff have raised concerns with the ministry about delayed payments, with some warning the situation is affecting morale and willingness to work extra hours.

A health worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the delay had become discouraging.

“We have overtime from September, and we are still waiting,” the worker said. “September, October, November and now December, still nothing.”

The staff member claimed they were told during internal discussions that the overtime budget had already been exceeded.

“There are a lot of us waiting, not only nurses, but also the pharmacy department in the health centre,” he said.

Another medical employee said they were informed that, moving forward, overtime may no longer be paid.

“There was an emergency meeting at the hospital this week because of a memo sent from the ministry notifying nurses there would be no overtime payments from now on,” the employee said.

Another nurse, who also requested anonymity, said: “We are working long hours for the people. All we ask is to be paid what we are owed.”

This masthead has established that the ministry has so far utilised more than 65 per cent of its overtime budget.

Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Shiri Gounder said overtime spending at the end of the 2024–2025 financial year reached $34 million.

In the current financial year, the overtime allocation decreased to $11.8 million, while funds for new recruitments increased to help ease workload pressures.

Overtime funding is included in the 2025–2026 National Budget under Standard Expenditure Groups for both established and unestablished staff.

Mr Gounder said overtime policies have not changed and remain guided by Civil Service Circular No. 14/2024, which outlines rules for overtime, time-off-in-lieu and approval requirements. Any future adjustments, he said, would depend on the review of the General Orders 2011.

Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu said there was a formal process for how nurses and other medical staff were paid, noting that while some may receive payments faster, others may experience delays.

“There is a procedure, and nurses are getting paid for it,” Dr Lalabalavu said.

The ministry continues to receive the largest overtime allocation due to the critical nature of its services and the ongoing shortage of nurses, which often forces staff to work extended hours to maintain essential healthcare.

Despite this, frontline workers in the Friendly North say they feel left behind.

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