To go to HR, or not??

Nurses Activism

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So I started working at this facility 3 months ago. I had been there before for 6years in the past. They require a very other weekend rotation for Full timers..during my interviews I stated that I would be at church on Sunday and needed this day off. No one acted like it was a big deal..until my first schedule came out. When I talked to scheduler about it she stated "well no one told me, and everyone wants off weekends." I talked to her and the manager and it was agreed that I could come in an hour late, to be able to attend some of church. However my problem comes because there is one nurse that works part time hours with no weekends and still gets full time benefits and I know for a fact she hasn't been there 5 years. There are two other nurses (both been there less than 5years) and neither works Sunday.. am I being foolish or is this something I should escalate up the chain? I already hate missing my family as much as I do on weekends I work ( fri-sun) every other weekend. But it can even enjoy church because I worry about being late.

Advice please???

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Is there anyone who would be willing to work your Sundays if you work their Saturdays, to set up an ongoing trade? I would not go to HR about who else is getting what schedule or benefits, that is bound to get you on someone's bad side. They may have negotiated that in writing when they were hired, you have no way of knowing.

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I would take the above poster's advice.

You need to understand that HR is there to protect your employer from lawsuits. They do not function for your, or any other employee's benefit.

And if you work in a state that has "at will" employment, you can be dismissed for NO cause and have no legal recourse.

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Thanks for the advice. I think I am frustrated and not sure why I can back to a job that I didn't care for. I guess it was the lesser of two evils or seemed so at the time.

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I truly wish I could give you a concrete answer to your question. I would say to start becoming aware of your own employee rights and get familiar with the different government agencies such as Dept of Labor, Fair Labor Standard Act, EEOC, etc. I have witnessed many nurses (including myself at one point) not take the time to know what their rights are in the workplace. Now that we have a new administration in office, its highly important to know when to talk to your HR about any issue in the workplace. I am a witness for receiving 4 years of back pay because a coworker knew her rights and took the situation to court and won the case. I am not saying for you to go to that extreme if its not necessary, but I am saying that most employers believe that we do not care about knowing our own rights until they find out that one of their employees know more about the employment law than they do.

Hopefully I answered your question to a certain extend to bring awareness

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

If you have a union then you and management are bound by whatever is in the contract. If there is no union, then it is down to whatever was negotiated upon hire, and put into writing. It sounds like you got a verbal (and rather noncommittal) response to your query about having Sundays off. HR saw no reason to communicate this to nursing management or the schedulers. You can remind HR about what was said during your interview, but don't hold any high hopes that anything will change. "Knowing your rights" isn't going to help you unless your employer is violating a union contract or labour laws.

Your coworkers obviously negotiated sweeter deals and got them in writing. Your best bet is what a previous poster suggested: see if you can work Saturdays in exchange for Sundays, or any other arrangement that mutually benefits a coworker. Good luck.

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It sounds like their every other weekend policy isn't really the policy for everyone, so it would seem you have a chance to get your Sundays off. Also, if that was an agreement during hire I would think you could bring it up to your boss.

I've never seen a place that was flexible about the weekends. In all the hospitals and other facilities I've worked at, everyone except management rotated every other weekend, and where I'm at now, you can't even request one of your weekend days off. You have to find (non existent) coverage yourself. It sucks because, basically, if anything comes up that you'd like to go to on your weekend, a concert, a child's recital, a sporting event, whatever, you're pretty much screwed. :/

But as far as church goes, until it gets sorted out, you could go to church on your Sunday off, and then on the Sunday's you work just watch church online with the family Sunday night, vs. being stressed about being late for work and dealing with potentially irate coworkers waiting for you, etc...Good luck.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

I had a similar situation (about not being able to work certain days) and had the same outcome. The manager said no problem in the interview, then didn't back me up when the schedule came out. Next time I will get it in writing.

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