Agency; time worked vs time paid?

[inaniel88]

Question - (especially to anyone in DON/HR roles)...

So, at my my LTC/rehab facility, we're kind of imploding and having a lot/majority of agency staff from multiple agencies on all shifts...

They all have their own time sheets, and being charge, I sign them at the end of the shift, or their last day if working consecutive days.

Bottom line question - isn't it "fraud" if you sign a time sheet that says 6-2, 2-10, 10-6...if they actually show up 45mins-2hrs late?

The reason I'm asking is I've gotten very different responses from everyone involved and can't seem to find a straight answer....CNAs themselves, DON/ADON, scheduler, HR, friends in the business, whoever answers the phone when I call the agency to see if this person is actually COMING or if we have to rezone 30-60m into the shift...

I guess, posing this question right now, I should probably just call up the administrator if I'm THAT concerned/upset about it, but he's very shady as well and he probably doesn't know what he's talking about anyways ....I'm not really worried about being in trouble personally - I don't think anything would come of it (unless I make a big deal of it of course....)

I USED to make a big deal of it - If someone showed up 1 hr late and tried to write on their time sheet for me to sign that they showed up at START of shift, I'd either correct it (which they would AGGRESSIVLY confront me about and say they got paid for the time they were SCHEDULED either way) or sign it to avoid the hostility and then call their managers at the end of MY shift (30-60m after THEY'VE gone; to say NO, they came it at THIS time, THIS is the time they worked , and relay that to my scheduler)...it caused some drama...

But the majority response from everyone involved, in MY experience, is that if an agency aide or nurse is scheduled to work 6-2 and they show up at 6:45 and leave at 1:30, they STILL get paid for 6-2. And if our scheduler makes a mistake and someone shows that isn't supposed to be there and they get sent home without working, they STILL get paid because they were scheduled in the first place?

?!?*****!?

So I guess my question is, if anyone has any experience with this and anything factual they can lay upon me, because I'm getting kind re-fed-up with people getting paid to do work they're not present for, and how to handle this in general?,..I'd very much appreciate the advice.

[chare]

No experience with this, but if it were me I would sign the sheet to reflect the hours that they were actually working.

If they actually do get paid for the entire shift, regardless of how many hours they work, it doesn't matter. However, if they get paid for the actual hours worked I'm sure that your facility doesn't want to pay for time not worked

[caliotter3]

It has been my experience that time sheet fraud is quite common in extended care home health. Often, the responsible party/client who signs the time sheet instigates or at least facilitates the fraud. In facilities, a time clock was used, but I don't recall seeing if agency nurses used it. Whoever is ultimately providing the funds for the wages is being defrauded. If I were you, I would not participate. You don't know when this might blow up in someone's face and you don't want to be standing there if, or when, it does.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

WTH? Show up late? Just wow. Facilities must be desperate.

[Julius Seizure]

If you sign it, you are agreeing that they worked those hours. Which is a lie. I wouldn't be willing to sign it, they would have to find somebody else to lie for them.

And why are they coming in so late all the time?

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Um, no. I''m only signing for the hours they came in to work.

[inaniel88]

Thanks you guys, Yeah this was pretty much my opinion from the start. I guess I'll just resume signing it for hours actually worked. And keep reporting it to their agency and the scheduler whether they actually worked or not. MY only hang-up was that these CNAs along with my own scheduler and THEIR schedulers and some staff management were telling me they got paid either way, whether they worked or not. Like, if someone was scheduled, and (miraculously we were overstaffed) management would tell us to send our actual staff employees home first because "agency is paid either way" (whether they work or not). Which was the cause of my confusion. And the drama when I correct their (self)-filled-out time sheet to reflect actual hours worked.

Crazy. I guess I'll just do my part. I just don't know where this thinking comes from? Do they ACTUALLY get paid for time not worked - everyone in my facility seems to think so..I don't really know who to ask, unless I called their corporate office or something to ask them.