Salaried Staff Nurses?

[ChristineN]

Hey, so last night I was at work and alot of the staff nurses were talking about a rumor that some hospitals, in an effort to save money, are switching bedside nurses from an hourly salary to a yearly salary instead. Does anyone know if any hospitals are actually doing this? I can't imagine this being well received by nursing, let along practical.

[kcochrane]

Some random thoughts:

This is a loaded topic because legally, nurses are not entitled to OT pay. (References to OT pay means time-and-a-half. An employer has the option of paying exempt employees for extra hours - including at straight pay - but they do not have to).

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, we are considered exempt from minimum wage and overtime provisions, due to the fact that we are considered 'professionals', based on several tests they use to determine same.

http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/salary/comp/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act

I read this over and it looks as though nurses would be entitled to OT pay because they are not salaried. If you are being paid by the hour and have to account for your time, then you are not exempt. We may qualify under the duties test, but most of us don't under the salary test. But I've only had one cup of coffee so far, so I could be wrong.

The last place I worked was under fire from the state labor board for not paying overtime to nurses and had to write some big checks to people. I would assume, if they could have used the above act to get out of that payoff, they would have.

[jstanrs]

I read this over and it looks as though nurses would be entitled to OT pay because they are not salaried. If you are being paid by the hour and have to account for your time, then you are not exempt. We may qualify under the duties test, but most of us don't under the salary test. But I've only had one cup of coffee so far, so I could be wrong.

The last place I worked was under fire from the state labor board for not paying overtime to nurses and had to write some big checks to people. I would assume, if they could have used the above act to get out of that payoff, they would have.

It would seem that you are correct. According to the government's FLSA site:

Registered Nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirement for the learned professional exemption. Many registered nurses, however, are paid by the hour, not on a salary basis, and thus are entitled to overtime pay. Licensed practical nurses generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals.

However, I know that the last time I looked into this, I came away with the understanding that hospitals could get away with not paying overtime even when they were paying their staff nurses on an hourly basis; I know of at least one hospital that was doing so. Interestingly (and frustratingly), through Googling, I just learned that this same hospital recently won a case of a nurse suing for wages lost when she was docked for meal breaks she was unable to take.

I hate to sound so cynical, but honestly? I think that this is all a matter of judges ruling in favor of big business.

[Music in My Heart]

It would seem that you are correct. According to the government's FLSA site:

Registered Nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirement for the learned professional exemption. Many registered nurses, however, are paid by the hour, not on a salary basis, and thus are entitled to overtime pay. Licensed practical nurses generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals.

Let this be a warning to those of you whose pride drives you to insist on being viewed as a professional. I'd far rather be a non-exempt, skilled tradesperson practicing the nursing trade than be an exempt learned, professional practicing the nursing profession.

I've spent most of my working life as an exempt learned professional... it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

I'll take the "skilled trade" title over the "learned professional" title, any day.

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

Haven't heard of anybody trying that.

Nurses are always talking about how they are professionals. In a lot of the business world "professional" equates to salaried and it means that you work (without overtime) until you get the job done. I wonder how many lawyers etc punch a time clock like we do. After switching to nursing from my "professional" job, I've always though it's a good thing being an hourly paid laborer who gets over time.

I assure you, lawyers get paid for every minute they work.

[mappers]

Let this be a warning to those of you whose pride drives you to insist on being viewed as a professional. I'd far rather be a non-exempt, skilled tradesperson practicing the nursing trade than be an exempt learned, professional practicing the nursing profession.

I've spent most of my working life as an exempt learned professional... it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

I'll take the "skilled trade" title over the "learned professional" title, any day.

ITA. People ask me how I can do a 12 hour shift. I say when I was a "manager" in an office job, I often worked 12 hours, 5 days a week, took a laptop home and worked some more. I didn't get OT either. Yeah, I'll take my non-exempt status anyday.