[anononurse]

Originally Posted by prepacuornurse

My facility rarely has the staff to give lunches or we get 15 minutes in sometimes a 12 hour day.Also we may work 12 hours a day for 3 days and when it comes to thursday and friday they make you leave before you get overtime.Nice huh?

This sounds like something that needs to be reported to the state labor board! I worked one facility where similar things were happening. If you had too many hours after running around w/no lunches or breaks M-Th you were told to leave early towards the end of the week-- fine w/me, as long as I get my 80/pp. However, they had an incident resulting in a patient death & a huge lawsuit b/c they floated inexperienced (as in NO previous experience) nurses to fill in for the seasoned nurses who were sent HOME to avoid as little as 3 hrs OT! The facility settled out of court, and guess what??-- they now realize that a few hours OT is nowhere near as expensive as a lawsuit!!

[BlueHenRN]

My management is more concerned about WHY staff doesn't have time to take a break and how they can help, rather than accusing people of "milking the clock." I think people talk so much in my department that word gets around about who does things like that, and it gets back to management.
*Jess*

[Yosemite, RN]

Yes, in California, at least, there is quite a fine to the facility if breaks and lunches are missed... I believe $10,000.00. Not much for a large facility, but for a smaller one like I recently worked for, its a budget buster.

Oh, yes. Overtime was a big offense unless we were short staffed... of course, we ran on such a skeleton crew that ONE staff member calls in sick it is a total disaster. (This facility is one of the three types not covered by California's staffing ratio law). Leaving during such a situation, if the shortage was an RN was "pt. abandonment."

Of course, if all of the work wasn't finished, it could end up in a "write-up" for the RN.

How did we work around this? Simple... punch out for lunch and keep on working. Work through breaks. If a few things needed finishing, punch out to go home and stay and finish on your own nickel and PRAY nothing happened that would draw attention to the fact you had done so. Kept our mouths shut. Wring, rinse, repeat till you were injured, found another job (not so easy as THERE IS NO NURSING SHORTAGE in California) or just quit.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by Yosemite, RN

How did we work around this? Simple... punch out for lunch and keep on working. Work through breaks. If a few things needed finishing, punch out to go home and stay and finish on your own nickel and PRAY nothing happened that would draw attention to the fact you had done so.

nonononononononononononono.............

[Yosemite, RN]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel Goldstein

nonononononononononononono.............

Unfortunately, yes. The only other option that we could see was just keep taking the "write ups" until we were fired (a couple were). They would then fill the position with a new grad that would work a few shifts (at best) then quit or a newly arrived foreign nurse who, also, didn't understand what they were getting themselves into.

[RainDreamer]

The only time they get onto people is when it's being abused. VERY rarely do we have people staying late to chart or people missing lunches/breaks.

Of course there are exceptions and sometimes you have to stay late and chart. But in the year and a half that I've been there, I can count on one hand the number of times I've stayed late, and when I say late I mean like 30 minutes over. Also, in the year and a half I've been there I've never missed a lunch break. Again, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to cut my lunch short, but I've always been able to go get something to eat, go to the bathroom, and take a little break. Even on the busiest-run-your-butt-off-constantly-all-night types of nights.

We help each other out. We make sure everyone can get a lunch break. We make sure everyone can get out in time.

Maybe I'm just a naive new nurse, but I honestly can't imagine putting up with working at a place in which the norm is to not get a lunch and to get out late.

We as nurses work hard. We not only deserve our lunch breaks, but we should REQUIRE that we get them.

So in a roundabout way, the answer is no, we don't really have a problem with this. Sure there are some people that take advantage and try to milk the clock by saving some charting for later, that way they can get the overtime. And those people are the ones that get warned. Otherwise, it's not a big issue.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Think about what you're doing and the risks you are taking. What happens if there is an incident while you are off the clock? You're **** out of luck. One of our nurses injured herself while 'off the clock'. Workers' Comp refused to pay.

And beyond that, the hospital is reaping financial benefit from your "free" work.

Do you have a union? Hell, you don't even need a union... Think 'Wal-Mart'.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16809248/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/...in533818.shtml

Over 40 class action suits for back pay/overtime pay.

some employees said that they frequently took it upon themselves to clock out after their regular shift and then return to work, with their manager’s knowledge and approval. These workers said that they feared that if they did not finish their daily tasks before going home, they would be written up or fired.

There IS precedent here. Federal law is Federal law.

http://www.wal-martlitigation.com/currentd.htm

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by RainDreamer

We as nurses work hard. We not only deserve our lunch breaks, but we should REQUIRE that we get them.

There's no 'should' about it--- it's mandated by law. But like the DOL rep told me, employers can do whatever they want and get away with it, until it's reported.

[Yosemite, RN]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel Goldstein

Think about what you're doing and the risks you are taking. What happens if there is an incident while you are off the clock? You're **** out of luck. One of our nurses injured herself while 'off the clock'. Workers' Comp refused to pay.

And beyond that, the hospital is reaping financial benefit from your "free" work.

Do you have a union? Hell, you don't even need a union... Think 'Wal-Mart'.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16809248/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/...in533818.shtml

Over 40 class action suits for back pay/overtime pay.


There IS precedent here. Federal law is Federal law.

http://www.wal-martlitigation.com/currentd.htm

Hehehe... don't laugh, but my wife wants me to work at Home Depot before going back to that facility! Of course, that facility is non-union... one WORD of "union," and you'd loose your job.

I've worked management and I know that if management wants you gone, unless you've got a STRONG union, you ARE gone. I don't know about your state, but we have to sign an agreement that either the employer or the employee can terminate employment at any time with no warning... it is up to the employee to prove discrimination or some such.

If you can't get your work done on a regular basis due to horrendous understaffing, you are labeled as "not having good time management skills." It truly is a no-win situation.

I just hope to hell I can find another job ASAP that isn't worse!!!

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Non-exempt employees must be compensated for any time during which they perform activities that benefit the employer.

Arg..... this gets my blood boiling. Sorry...I don't work for free.