What Are the Chances of Getting Paid Overtime in a SNF?

I worked in couple of LTCs and hospital also... just IF you don't, you don't take "lunch time"...is just your option. Nurses tell I don't have time to take my lunch....i am sorry ... I was there and I know how it is.... all employers know the law.... NO ONE tell nurses don't take your break.... is a big No No, ... the nurses choose to not take them break, to be able to finsh them work.... and after to tell..."i don't take my break...I work so much".

The problem is like that.... the work load is low or high, when you are employed you deserve to know about it, if you accept and you are hired, please don't come after and tell that is sooooo hard, because you knew it before to be hired and you said YES!

Now YOU are entitled to be paid for each OT hour by law, but also by law the owner could organize his house how he wants, based on the same laws.... when you will become old you will see... depend just of us what type of environment we create and work in.........just a smart advice....

People try to speak out bad thinks about a company when they want and belive that they deserve to be more than they are or them are not happy with them position, .... Wherever you will be, up to top or down to bottom the BALANCE is the word.

I saw so many unbalanced in my life than ...my brain hurt me, loooooool. No one wants trouble makers.....I worked with so many than is scarry to have one closed... they could push you in trouble just by them twisted mind... or them constant unhapiness.....or "I want more"- style.

You are a nice one...don't go with the flow...

Try to change your mind, be a good-smart one...or open your own company and be your own owner, lol, and neither then is not easy....lol...you are JUST young!

A hippy gurl here...NO WAR...but everyone choose them way....

Take your break...no one will die for sure in your break
Try to not tell "story of patient life" in charting
Pass meds means pass meds not psychanlyzing and entretainment of patient, assesment first in the time with passing meds
Prioritize
Go out on time..is easy!

For stories.... come on AN! Love you hon, you are for sure a good one...just resume your self a little....

I might be completely wrong here.... but from what I understand time cards can not be altered, and you need to be paid what you punch - at least where I work. We have signs all over my facility stating NOT to punch in early or late because then OT has to be paid out. If time cards are being changed... maybe there is an issue there???

If you are hired in a non exempt position (paid an hourly wage) then the practice of not paying you OT and "editing " your "meal break" is illegal. I would be looking for other employment and when I secure another position I would leave. Unless of course you wish to stay and be continually abused.

Unless you are exempt from overtime because of being salaried, you have to be paid overtime. This includes charting, missed lunches, etc. I would, however, take that lunch break from now on--you need it to recharge your batteries.

And, as several other people said, you do have a right to see your time card. Contact your labor board to find out your state specific rights.

The problem is not with time management, but with a ridiculous patient load.

Management loves to say things like "no overtime!" and then they give you 38 patients to care for. Or 15 or 50. Meanwhile, you have a "time management" issue because you can't get 10 hours worth of work done in 8.

Don't you wish you could just tell them that, for 8 hours of pay, you will only do 8 hours of work?? No overtime is right, DON! You pay me for 8 hours of work and I do 8 hours of work!!!

And if they don't pay you for your lunch, and dock your check........they are telling you that all that trivial work they expect you to do that can't be done in the time-frame allotted, means nothing to them. Only money does. They don't care about you, or how much you need a break. They don't care about the patients, or nurse to patient ratios. They only want that half hours pay back from you. "No work - no pay!"
They only care about patient safety in that they are trying to avoid lawsuits.

My last job docked my check for 30 minutes a day, for my "lunch-break." In the two years I worked there, I ate in my car........a packed lunch I brought from home. During winter months, I froze my butt off. During summer months, I sweat my tail off. Still, I ate canned tuna, boiled eggs and peanut butter sandwiches in my car.

It was what it was, but I took that break everyday. It was my time and therefore I took it.

Always take your unpaid lunch-break. Don't ever work for free. The owner of the facility, the DON and nobody else there is working for free, and you shouldn't either.

I DO agree with your post.. but this last line kind of made me chuckle. I am an ADON in LTC. I work salary based on a 40 hour work week and you had darn well better believe that I DO WORK FOR FREE. I give about 4-6 hrs/week, every week that I am not reimbursed for. I completely realize that I choose this job and I am not whining.. I am just pointing out the inaccuracy of your last statement. Better beleive that most salaried management ARE putting in some free hours in every LTC across the county - you just aren't aware of it.

I have no idea what state you live in, but in NY, it is illegal to not pay you for the hours you work. Someplaces thought they could get away with that "no overtime" crap. Guess what? The labor board TOLD them different, they paid alright and paid dearly. Some day higher ups will get a clue. The patient load you described is not doable in 8 hours and I don't need to hear about how others take care of 50 people where they work. It's not safe, it's not realistic, and anyone who says it is is full of it.

I have a background in management and opened a casino as a salaried manager. I worked over year - 15 hours per day - 6 or 7 days per week, salaried. If I broke down my salary into hourly wages, I didn't even made minimum wage. However, some of those hours were spent sitting at a desk, and some were spent reading documents, emails, etc. I always had a paid hour lunch break, and never had to pay for my food. That job was much easier than nursing. Nursing is exhausting, back-breaking work if you do it right. Floor nursing, in my opinion, is a non-stop grind and it wears you down.


The labor board allows salaries to be paid to management, because the idea is - you are supposed to have weeks when you don't work the full 40 hours. I know that's hilarious. But that is one guideline that has to be met if employees are allowed salaries instead of hourly wages. If you call in, you still get paid. If you leave early for a hair appointment, like my director does, you still get paid. I know it doesn't mean you rake in tons of cash and spend days on your boat doing it, I'm just stating the obvious.

But I know all about salaries, having been a manager myself. Still, as a salaried employee - you are getting paid for the time you are at work. It just might not be as much as you would be making if you made an hourly wage.

If they are working in IA, then a LARGE majority of that statement is true! LPN's in IA are not allowed to do pushes, or ANY IV fluids which has medication in it (with the exception of K in NS, etc) and they are only allowed after taking a state approved course, after they have worked a min of 2000 some clinical hrs. they are not allowed to start IV's either until after this class. Also, in the state of IA, LPN's are only allowed to do and document assessments w/o a RN co sign in LTC/SNF. they must have a RN sign if they are working in acute settings. this is why most, if not all LPN's in IA work in LTC/SNF. Practice acts come #1, employer policies come #2 in what can and cannot be performed by nurses.

let me clarify on my post. IA LPN's are still not allowed to do pushes or IV antibiotic/TPN after taking the course.