Health workers file lawsuit over Telus payroll system

$50-million class action suit could involve up to 4,000 employees of company contracted by Alberta Health Services to handle payroll and benefits.

Calgary (26 May 2009) - Health care workers in Calgary have filed a $50-million class action lawsuit against Telus Sourcing Solutions Inc., the company that handles their payroll and benefits.

Lawyer Clint Docken says the workers have endured years of mistakes on pay stubs, problems with their family benefits and vacation and pension calculations. Two workers have launched the suit but there are potentially 4,000 people who could eventually sign it, the laywer said.

Telus Sourcing is a department of Telus Corp. It began managing payroll and benefits for the Calgary Health Region (CHR) in 2004 and still has 10 years left on its contract. CHR no longer exists but Alberta Health Services (AHS), which replaced it, still uses Telus Sourcing for Calgary-area employees.

Those filing the lawsuit are doing so as individuals but they have the full support of their union, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE).

The company claims it has a 99.9% accuracy rate in the services it provides but an internal Telus document obtained by HSAA refutes many of the claims the company has been making.

Docken, who specializes in class action suits, said he has never represented such a large group that has suffered so many problems so repeatedly.

"What's unusual here are the number of people that are experiencing the same problems," he said.

He hopes that an Alberta court will certify the group as having a common legal interest later this year so the matter can proceed.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE