Arbitration forces Kaiser Permanente to repay millions owed to over 1,000 nurses

A labor arbitrator ruled that Kaiser Permanente must pay back wages to over 1,000 registered nurses, with the total potentially reaching tens of millions of dollars. The California Nurses Association called the outcome a historic win, accusing Kaiser of allowing a payroll system change to steal millions from its staff. Kaiser said it disagrees with the union’s characterization but will comply with the arbitrator’s mandate.

The dispute, first raised in 2021, involved underpayments across 22 Kaiser facilities. The health system, California’s largest private employer, pledged to contact each affected nurse promptly. The decision arrives as Kaiser negotiates a new contract that includes demands on staffing levels, wages and greater oversight of artificial-intelligence tools in clinical decisions, following recent state legislation limiting AI in patient care.