Agency won't pay... Holiday rate.

Specialties Travel

Published

Specializes in Medical-Surgical- Psych.

So I worked a holiday that's recognized from the facility as a holiday but wasn't paid my holiday rate on my earnings. I messaged my recruiter about it and she said it only applied to permanent staff and as a traveler "Presidents' Day" isn't recognized. Does that make sense? Is it appropriate for me to ask for documentation about it. And keep fighting for it? I worked other holidays like xmas and got holiday pay... I've looked on their main manual thing and it's never specified btw permanent and travel nurse holidays😑. Thanks for your inputs!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

You don't work for the facility- you work for the travel company. You only get holiday pay for THEIR paid holidays.

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I agree with that reply to the original post, but with caveats. If the agency has agreed to pay the traveler for hospital recognized holidays, and it is on their contract, then yes, they must pay.

I actually had a similar issue this year. President's Day was on my contract, but the vendor manager said it wasn't a recognized facility holiday. It turned out that the vendor manager was projecting: they didn't get paid for President's Day as a holiday and assumed that it was the same for travelers. So my insistence on checking the contract got some 60 plus travelers paid for the holiday! It didn't matter to the vendor manager, they billed through to the hospital per their contract.

If your contract or employee handbook names President's Day as an agency holiday, then simply get your agency to pay you appropriately. If official holidays are not listed, ask them to review their hospital contract again. President's Day is a major holiday and if any holidays are paid, this one should be. I think this is worth a bit of effort, depending on your pay of course. If your base is $10 an hour, perhaps it is not worth fighting too much over $60. Just tell your agency you will be working with a better agency next assignment.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical- Psych.

My contract states it will pay for "client recognized holiday", but the supposedly fine print my recruiter is saying is that this holiday isn't recognized for travel nurses.... No where in my contract specifies that.

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

I recall getting holiday pay for Presidents Day.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

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My contract states it will pay for "client recognized holiday", but the supposedly fine print my recruiter is saying is that this holiday isn't recognized for travel nurses.... No where in my contract specifies that.

So ask them to please check that President's Day is not a recognized holiday on their contract with the hospital. You can also go to the hospital HR or staffing and ask them if they pay agencies holiday pay.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical- Psych.

So the hospital (hr/supervisor/payroll) said I should get paid holiday cause they recognize it as a holiday. So when I brought it up to my recruiter- she said I signed their agency manual which states what they (the agency) recognized as holidays, and Presidents' Day isn't one of them... They have the major ones like xmas, new yr...

How do I go about this now?

My contract with the hospital states "client recognized holiday" then supposedly the manual doesn't list it... Does that make sense?

Should I still be able to get compensated?

I really want my holiday pay!

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Specializes in Peri-Op.

I'm not sure what you don't understand about this. You do not work for the hospital. It makes no difference what the hospital says. Your agency and contract does not cover it as a holiday

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