How does mandatory OT work?

Nurses General Nursing

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We don't have mandatory overtime where I work. But I'm curious as to how the "rules" go about Mandatory OT.

Does it mean that they can call you in on your days off and you aren't allowed to refuse? Or does it just mean that you can't refuse to stay for overtime after a regularly scheduled shift? Is there a limit of how long they can make you stay, or not? Can you be fired for refusing to come in on your days off? What about just not answering the phone?

I could stay an extra four hours after my regular twelve (and have done so voluntarily). But only if I don't have to come back the next day! More than that I would refuse, because I would be too exhausted. Does mandatory OT mean that I would not be allowed to plead exhaustion and go home?

How rampant is mandatory OT in various regions? It sounds positively inhumane!

Our mandatory overtime is called upstaffing and it works like this:

Each nurse is required to sign up once a pay period. If you are at risk for upstaffing on the day shift, for instance, the night charge nurse must call you in by 0545 the morning you're at risk, or you're off the hook for the two weeks. We only use it if census really jumps, someone's on vacation, or there is a call-in. We get time and a half pay.

In the institution at which I work part-time, they have the same system, except it's 12-hour call, so if it gets busy during the day, they have recourse.

Both units are labor and delivery.

Upstaffing has turned out to be pretty fair and it hasn't been abused, because what goes around almost always comes around!!!

in our nursing home, any full or part time RN, LPN, or CNA gets mandated OFTEN. You just don't get to go home, since there is no one for you to give report to! Anyone that refuses is fired. Anyone on MOT gets paid time and a half, but it is not worth it as far as I am concerned. That is why I just work there per diem- no benefits, but no mandates either.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We don't get OT for mandatory OT unless we are working 40 that week....it is just straight time for all of us under 40 hours.

Specializes in Hospice, Critical Care.

Our facility pays $5.00 extra an hour for shifts worked beyond your normally scheduled hours--doesn't matter if it falls into OT or not. Time-and-a-half, however, picks up after 40 hours.

And god knows, as the nurse recruiter, I'm TRYING to hire as many nurses as I can. Fortunately, I have had some successes lately and my vacancy rate has dropped 4% in the last month! We use agency nurses too (but we need to find a new agency; ours is not too reliable). It is notable, to me at least, that one of our best sources of new hires is...former employees. People who left to find greener pastures but come back in a matter of a few months to a year. I think that says something good about us.

In our hospital it isn't called MOT. It should be call COT. Coerced overtime. If you are needed to work overtime or an extra shift they call and if you refuse, a big NO is put by your name on the schedule. You will be the first to be put OC when census falls and the rest of the unit treats you like crap. If you happen to be working and all hell breaks loose, No one will come in for you and you're left short. Doesn't matter why you can't come in. You are expected to drop everything and run in no matter what. Thats how OT works in my hospital.

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A successful nurse recruiter! Wonderful! Would you mind if I picked your brains a little?? ; )

It does say something about your facility that former employees are willing to return. In fact, it says a lot & maybe that can help the rest of us at our own places of employment.

Have you done any research on what it actually is that is making your turn-around rates successful? Do you have any ideas about why those former employees are returning to your facility? What is it about the facility that is successful in bringing them back? Would you be willing to develop a short survey to give to these employees to fill out when they come back to reapply for jobs and to those who have already returned - a survey that asks them to identify the things about this facility that caused them to return & remain working there? And maybe even publishing your results? AJN is always publishing nurse research & this data on recruitment and retention is very important nowadays.

I would like to take your findings back to my administration & try to implement some of the concepts that have been successful for you.

Even if its a small, informal study, it could be very helpful to the rest of us.

Thanks.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

Labor nurse...just don't answer the phone...then they can't say you said no! :D I never answer the phone..just wait for the machine to pick it up to see who it is! ;) :roll Actually, that is pretty sh__ty to do. We don't care if people come in or stay...that is their business, not ours. We are pretty cool about it...actually, we all encourage each other to say no!

Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

One facility that I worked at just assigned a shift of call each week.. This in itself was a total joke. You knew that you were going to work that shift. It was used as staffing. Then they would still call and beg you to come in on your days off too.

I did the same, I just let my machine pick up the calls to see who it was before actually answering myself.. This was because I am a big guilty sucker and could usually be coerced into coming on in.

Specializes in Med-Tele, CCU, ED (by default in Mgt.).

I guess we live in a different world in the South (in more ways than one!). Mandatory overtime has a diggerent name---we call it "bonus shifts" and it goes like this...in a two week period a full time staff RN (say in CCU) works 3 shifts one week (Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday) and 4 shifts the next week (Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday). The 4th shift on that second week is a "bonus shift" y'all call it mandatory overtime. The nurse is paid time and 1/2 for the hours above 40 hours and bonus pay which amounts to $10.00/hr. Staff actually say this is my bonus week, I want to work all of my shifts, don't cut me if you don't have to. Staff also understand that if the census is down anytime during their "long week" and they are not needed the overtime will be cut. They like the bonus shifts but they also like getting put on call for one shift during the week every now and again.

Staying past 12 hours is a whole other thing.....that's something we have not required of staff on routine days (excluding natural disasters!) Staff volunteer to cover until the shift can be covered or until I (the Department Director can get there to take patients).

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