The executive board of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) announced on Monday that it would go ahead with plans to pay nurses special bonuses.

The move comes days after Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HUS Markku Mäkijärvi announced that the hospital district would hold off on distributing the bonuses.

Risto Rautava, the chair of HUS's board, confirmed the district's decision to cancel the bonuses in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday.

The decision was met with heavy criticism, particularly from nurse and healthcare worker unions.

On Monday, Rautava told Yle that the board has switched tracks and will pay nurses the bonuses, as previously agreed.

"HUS's board made an overall assessment. We came to the conclusion that since the heads of certain departments have already promised employees bonuses and some had already been paid, it would not be fair to repeal the decision," he said.

The nurses in these departments-namely, the head and neck center, heart and lung center and abdominal center-had been promised bonuses as a reward for coping with a heavy work overload due to staff shortages during November-February. The bonuses range from 200 to 300 euros per month per employee.

The decision to grant bonuses was made by the heads of the departments. Staff had been informed about the extra pay, and some had already received the money.

Mäkijärvi had said that it was unfair for nurses working in certain departments to receive bonuses while other employees had not been offered the same deal.

HUS's board also noted on Monday that the hospital district needs to urgently improve its personnel management and administration.

HUS facing backlash

The hospital district's decision to cancel the bonuses caused a stir on social media, with unions condemning the move.

In a tweet on Sunday, the Union of Health and Social Care Services - Tehy stated that it intended to investigate the legality of the decision if HUS went through with cancelling the bonuses.

The union also sent a letter to HUS's administration calling for the decision to be reversed.

"We are of the opinion that nurses are already outraged at the threat to forgo extra pay. Confidence in the employer's actions is crumbling," the letter, which was signed by Tehy's director Else-Mai Kirvesniemi, stated, according to Finnish language newspaper Demokraatti.

Silja Paavola, the chair of the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses SuPer, said it would be outrageous as well as dangerous to cancel bonuses that had already been promised.

"This is not a reason to cancel anything, but rather, a reason to pay people a higher salary to attract more employees to the industry," Paavola stated on Yle's morning show Ylen Aamu on Monday, pointing out how the extra workload in the healthcare sector has already led to several surgeries being cancelled.

In an interview with Yle on Sunday, Prime Minister Sanna Marin urged hospital districts to prevent staff shortages by providing adequate compensation and bonuses, especially during the Christmas season.

She emphasised that the state bears the costs of any measures aimed at tackling the Covid-19 crisis, which would include additional compensation for health workers.