In house on call?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

We do about 350 deliveries a year, and staff two L&D nurses at all times. We have a policy in our hospital that allows them to put RNs on call during times of low census...specialty areas like L&D and nursery (because only two nurses are staffed), if there aren't any patients in these units then they will put one on call in house. The problem is, the in house on call nurse only gets paid regular call pay, NOT even minimum wage ($7/hour), and it is the same pay that the RNs at home with their families on call are getting. I've been reading up on the Fair Labor Standards Act, and it states that any time any call time an employee is required to stay on the employer's premises is considered working time. I've looked all over the place for any mention of any nurses any where else being required to take in house call and haven't been able to find it. I believe my hospital is violating the FLSA by not adequately compensating us for time that we are REQUIRED to be in house on call. Has anybody else ever run across this, or anybody have any knowledge of HR standards that could shed some light on this? I've emailed the director of HR in our hospital and haven't gotten a response. Our census is really low and right now an L&D nurse has been on in house call EVERY DAY for the past three weeks or so, and these are on our regularly scheduled days. We can't even go home to our families and be on call, even if we live a mile down the road, because that would only leave one L&D nurse in house. I believe we are being screwed, and I don't even think my HR dept is smart enough to know that they are breaking the law.

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Specializes in nursery, L and D.

Not sure about the labor laws but I do know if I had to stay in house I would be getting my regular hourly wage..........not on call pay. I wouldn't mind working while there but I'm not wasting 12 hours of my time in house on call, can't go spend time with fam, do all the laundry, etc. No way.

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I do not have an HR policy for comparison, however this is some relevant information that may help from the FLSA:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.htm

The pertinent data:

"U.S. Department of Labor

Wage and Hour Division

Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

On-Call Time: An employee who is required to remain on call on the employer's premises is working while "on call." An employee who is required to remain on call at home, or who is allowed to leave a message where he/she can be reached, is not working (in most cases) while on call. Additional constraints on the employee's freedom could require this time to be compensated.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.wagehour.dol.gov and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866- 4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations."

Since this caveat is on the bottom, I would e-mail or phone and request a an e-mail of the official position or regulation statement on the subject from the Wage and Hour Division. Once received, you could then forward this information to HR. As an alternative, since you have already broached the subject, you might consider simply sending the link by e-mail. HR could then follow through with the Department of Labor.

It seems the employer wants to "have it's cake and eat it too," much to the detriment of its nurses. Hope the situation is rectified for your staff soon.

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Specializes in L&D, Mom/Baby, LTC, Rehab.

The unit that I work on has a similar situation with low census though we do approx. 400 deliveries yearly. We usually schedule 3 nurses with the understanding that if census drops, one nurse will stay home on call. Our unit always has 2 L&D trained nurses working, even if we have no patients on the floor. The thought process is that anything can walk through the door, and you'll need an extra hand if it hits the fan.

I think that your employer is trying to get over on your unit. After all, would they staff the ER like this?

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Specializes in ER, Trauma.

IMHO your hospital is shafting you guys. Get it all in writing and go to the labor board. I suspect some people are owed a lot of back pay. Good luck and may all your patients be compliant and all your orders legible.

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Thank you all for your input. I've read the FLSA guidelines over and over, thinking maybe I was missing something. The HR director emailed me back and basically said "I'll look at the guidelines and get back to you", and I haven't heard anything. I'm now going to take it over her head.

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Would love to hear how this ends up, cosmicmama. I respect you for involving yourself in getting equitable treatment for all your facility's employees.

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Update:

This went all the the way to administration of our "mothership" hospital, and heads rolled. Apparently our managers were doing something they didn't know was wrong, and the people who knew better knew nothing about it. The big guns came over and went through all the payroll and call records of our unit for the past two years (which is the limit that you can hold an employer liable for back pay). Every nurse on our floor who had been subject to in-house call got back pay for the last two years. Some nurses got several thousand dollars. :D

No more in-house call for us. :yeah:

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Specializes in Surgical ICU, Pospartum/Well Baby.

Great Job Cosmicmama!! :up: I hope your coworkers throw you a parade or name all their future children after you, lol. Seriously though, way to stick your neck out there and stand up for nurse's rights. I'm thrilled to hear your administration responded appropriately to end these unfair staffing practices and attempted to right their wrongs by giving at least some back pay. Way to Go!!! :yeah:

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Specializes in ICU, Home Health, Camp, Travel, L&D.

Awesome! Great job! We have recently fought a similar battle in our unit, which is combined Women & Children's Pavilion. We have a minimum of 3 nurses to maintain an open unit, even if there are no patients. Unfortunately, for the nurses who remained in hosp on call, they did it "under the table", so there is no recourse for them.

Yours is a great example of the importance of being a vocal advocate for our own unit, and our peers.

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