These workers thought they were getting an extra day off. Turns out it was just a ‘cruel’ test – CP24
Publish Date: 2026-06-21 08:57:00
Source Domain: www.cp24.com
ST. JOHN’S – Union leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador say a “cruel” cybersecurity test has outraged health-care workers across the province and may push some to an early exit.
Thousands of nurses, doctors and other workers at Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) received emails from the employer on Tuesday, promising an extra paid day off in recognition of recent hard work — only to learn later that the email was a phishing cybersecurity test, designed to trick employees.
“It was actually insulting, degrading, disrespectful,” said Yvette Coffey, head of the Registered Nurses Union in Newfoundland and Labrador. “Our members are mad and so am I.”
Officials at Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services have publicly apologized for the email. Ron Johnson, the health board’s interim CEO said Wednesday, that authorities would begin to investigate how the email was sent — and whether it was written by NLHS staff or a contractor at Ernst & Young.
Ron Johnson Ron Johnson, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services interim CEO
“This really missed a mark,” Johnson told reporters. “What happened here, obviously, is that all the lenses that were required to review the scenario weren’t placed on it.”
“It’s not reflective of how we value our employees.”
Frustrations were already high inside the health-care system in Newfoundland and Labrador according to Coffey, because of a stressful rollout of a new health information system and software back-end called “CorCare.”
Coffey said her members were working mandatory overtime and were denied leave in the run-up to CorCare’s launch this spring.
“All that stress, all that mandatory overtime, and to then try to hook staff with the promise of a day off?” said Coffey.
“It was a cheap shot at our members.”
The email promised “one additional paid day off” in recognition of the work that had gone into the CorCare transition. It asked employees to register for the “June Holiday,”…
