Signing new grad contract?

RNKITTY04 · Aug 13, 2004

Are they crazy? I have never heard of such a thing. Is this normal? I personally would not sign it, but hey to each their own.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2004

we have grads sign so they won't grab the money and run. Orientation is VERY expensive and we want them to stay. If they leave before the time period expires, the money due us is prorated. If your aim is to work at that facility what difference does it make if you sign?

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 13, 2004

I have never heard of such a thing ... UNLESS you agreed to such an arrangement as part of your employment offer ... and/or you are participating in a special training program. For example, my hospital has all nurses who participate in our pediatric OR orientation program sign a similar agreement -- but not new grads who are working in the general care areas.

What surprises me about the original poster's situation was that she apparently didn't know about the committment before she started working there. Did they really not tell her about it when they discussed the job with her? ... or was she not paying attention? If they are really "sneaking it in" after the fact, then I would not want to work for an insititution that was not honest in its hiring practices. If it is discussed as part of the interview process, etc. then it is a legitimate thing to do -- but it seems a bit extreme to me. It's one thing to pay back a sign-on bonus if you don't fulfill your committment, but it's another to be expected to reimburse the hospital for routine orientation expenses.

llg

kurlykay · Aug 13, 2004

It was actually never mentioned that there was a contract requirement for the job. I started working on Monday and this came in the mail on Thursday with no explanation except a post it that said please sign and return. This bothered me because I thought it would be standard practice to tell me up front that this was a requirement.

I am still a full time student getting my BSN. When I was hired I had discussions with my employer that they would need to be flexible with my school schedule for me to be able to work there. My problem is that nowhere in this contract does it say they will work with my school schedule. So if say the supervisor changed, or they had a staffing shortage, and now did not want to give me certain days off for school, I would have to pay them the money back for quitting even though they originally agreed to work with my schooling.

ragingmomster, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 13, 2004

Not in my neck of the woods. Speak to the person who hired you and ask what is up, and why it wasn't mentioned. You may be able to get them to amend the contract to include your provisions for school. But I don't know if I would be signing anything after I had already been hired. Sounds too much like a bait and switch.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2004

All our graduate nurses attend a mandatory orientation. They sign the contract BEFORE they are allowed to attend this orientation, during the initial interview process. Well, not the first interview, but sometime before the classes start. I think if someone offered you $11,000 you should expect some strings attached.

zambezi, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2004

We have this same type of agreement where I work...only not as much money. I think that it makes sense. If they pay you a sign on bonus of 11,000 plus your "regular" wage, if you hate the job in 2 months and leave it is not fair for you to keep the sign on bonus. It dosen't mean that you can't leave, it just means that you have to pay back your bonus. OUr hospital has a scale...so if you work for two months and leave your only have to pay back so much...the amount you repay if you leave gets less the longer you stay. It makes sense to me.

--Wait I just read that it is orientation fees and not a bonus...is the 11000 money that you don't really see except in wages or it is a sign on bonus??

I can see that it is very expensive to train someone...(but worth is as a good training on the job is essential!!)...We only had to repay our sign on bonus if we left...The training was "eaten" by the hospital--an expensive endeavor if a person left early...I don't think that it is wrong to require a contract of a year as long as if you totally hate the place you can leave or transfer to another unit if it is not a good fit....make sure you take a look at the unit that you will be working on to get an initial impression...and take your time signing the contract...if it dosen't feel right to, look for another place to work...

Nurse Ratched, RN · Aug 13, 2004

What I'm getting, though, is that this is NOT a sign on bonus. Am I reading it wrongly?

If they want you to pay back the money you earned working while orienting should you decide this is not the place for you, I would look elsewhere.

If it is a signon bonus, this isn't unreasonable.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 13, 2004

What I'm getting, though, is that this is NOT a sign on bonus. Am I reading it wrongly?
If they want you to pay back the money you earned working while orienting should you decide this is not the place for you, I would look elsewhere.
If it is a signon bonus, this isn't unreasonable.

I agree completely. The wages you earn while on orientation should be yours to keep because you did work for them during orientation. The exeption might be for some special orientation that was a special class and it was all said up front that you would only receive this educational program under these conditions.

It does sound as if this employer is not being honest and up front with its employees and I would not want to work for a place like that.

Sign-on bonuses and/or student loan repayment programs are an entirely different story. Having some obligation of continued employment to receive is customary.

llg

kurlykay · Aug 13, 2004

It's not a sign on bonus, it's the hospital's cost for orienting me to their unit as a new grad. The contract even states that if I don't make it in their unit, I have to pay them back the money. I'm not planning on training with them and then just leaving, but I didn't know this was something that was typically done and I thought they would have told me before I started. Thanks for all of your input. It is really helping me make a good decision. Any further thoughts would be appreciated.

ADNCyn · Aug 13, 2004

RUN!!! nuf said.