More payroll snafus, this time at Sutter Health hospitals, including Santa Rosa Regional

What is it about new hospital payroll systems?

Registered nurses and health care workers at Sutter Health facilities, including Sutter’s regional hospital in Santa Rosa, are calling out paycheck snafus tied to a new payroll system that’s reportedly shortchanging thousands of hospital workers.

The problem, which workers say began when Sutter launched its new payroll system, Workday, on July 1, is resulting in missing base pay, missing pay for call shifts, inaccurate pay rates for shifts, incorrect paid time off rates, and incorrect deductions, according to the California Nurses Association and the Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union.

The issues are similar to those experienced by nurses and other health care workers at Providence hospitals in Northern California. But the new payroll system implemented at Providence is different from the new system used by Sutter, a union representative said.

Shannon Minnie, a registered nurse in the outpatient unit at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, said nurses there have been experiencing payroll errors since July 8. The problems, Minnie said, are ongoing and the errors have not been fully resolved.

“We are extremely frustrated that Sutter Health still has not told us when they will fix all the errors,” she said in an email. “We have already been through three pay periods and the mistakes continue to occur. This is unacceptable.”

Sutter Health on Thursday acknowledged it has upgraded to a payroll and human resources system and that it was causing “payroll-related disruptions.”

“We are making every effort to resolve outstanding compensation and payroll issues,” Sutter said in a statement. “We regret any impact this has had on our team members. We value our employees and are grateful for their patience during this transition period.”

Sutter said the vast majority of its 53,000 employees received their paychecks as expected, but data discrepancy issues that occurred during the transition from the old system to the new one resulted in some employees not being paid accurately.

A union representative said nurses and health care workers at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport and Sutter’s Novato Community Hospital are also dealing with payroll issues.

On Tuesday, health care workers at several Providence hospitals in Northern California, including Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, blasted the company for systemwide payroll glitches they said are costing employees thousands of dollars in lost wages.

During a Zoom news conference, 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.

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