Alarming conditions of a job offer letter

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I just received a job offer letter from a potential employer. It states the basics, such as department I will be working for, who I am going to be reporting to, introductory period length, hourly wage, overtime time pay rate, etc. At the end it say the following:

"....... reserves the right at any time, with or without notice, to alter or change job responsibilities, compensation, incentive plan, reassign or transfer job position or assign additional job responsibilities within your general skill set for capabilities. ... The Company reserves the right to change or modify the terms and conditions of any base compensation or incentive plan at any time. ..."

I am a new grad nurse and this will be my first nursing job. The statement sounds pretty alarming to me and I am a bit hesitant to sign that letter with these sort of conditions. To me it reads that nothing is set in stone. They may change my hourly rate, benefits, put me in any department they see fit at any time they please.

I would appreciate any advice from experienced nursing community on this sort of conditions. Is this common for employers to do this?

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Specializes in NICU.

I can see two different sides to this statement. Is there concern that if you accept the job, are they going to change the pay and pay you less, are they going to switch you from days to nights, or put you in a different department? I think that their intention is several years after you are working there. The company decides changes policies that you need to work XX hours/wk for benefits, percentage the company matches your 401K, switches medical insurance companies. They don't want you coming to them and say "It says in my letter when I was hired that the company will match 4% of my 401K and now they changed it to 3%. You can't do that, I have it in writing".

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44 minutes ago, NICU Guy said:

I think that their intention is several years after you are working there. The company decides changes policies that you need to work XX hours/wk for benefits, percentage the company matches your 401K, switches medical insurance companies. They don't want you coming to them and say "It says in my letter when I was hired that the company will match 4% of my 401K and now they changed it to 3%. You can't do that, I have it in writing". 

Which is a perfectly reasonable thing for a person to say when someone effectively reneges on their portion of an agreement.

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Don't think I would be inclined to accept under those conditions, but then, if a new grad, and that was the only job offer so far....... Would the job, as far as the other stipulations, be acceptable otherwise? Then accept, work until you have good experience under your belt, and then move on if you must.

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I see...

Here is the situation. I applied for Telemetry day shift position at their facility and interviewed with director of Med-surge and Telemetry several days after applying. Their emphasis from the very beginning was night shift. I think I was asked about this around 3 times during the interview. I was firm that I would like days on Telemetry. The interview went well and 8 business days later I received a phone call from HR regarding an offer for this position. HR coordinator said, "The position is on Telemetry unit, AM shifts, 3 x 12 hours, 76 hours per pay period, pay is $XX.XX. Do you accept?” I told her that I need some time to think about this and will return a call in about an hour. When I returned the call, the lady, right away, stated that they need to schedule health screening appointment. I asked about details of the offer and she mentioned that she will send me a confirmation email for health screening appointment and also written offer letter later. After reading posts on AN about verbal offer never materializing, I decided to call their office 24 hours later asking for it. Right after hanging up the phone, the whole package was emailed to me within 1 minute time.

The letter does not include critical information about position that was given in the verbal offer.

VERBAL OFFER:
- Telemetry Department
- AM shift
- 3 x 12 hours
- 72 hours per pay period
- $XX.XX hourly wage

OFFER LETTER:
- Telemetry Department
- Reporting to ... ... CNO
- Target start date is contingent upon the completion of all new hire processes
- Introductory period of 90 days
- $XX.XX hourly wage
- Overtime time pay

The letter is missing the shift and hours information. At the end it says the statement that I included in the previous post.

I have an meeting with HR next week. How do I turn this lemon into lemonade?

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No. If days are deal breaker for you. No. They knew what they were doing when they left out 'day shift'. Trying to intimidate you with saying you are reporting to CNO. And overtime pay is supposed to be according to state law. No. But that is me.

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3 minutes ago, caliotter3 said:

Don't think I would be inclined to accept under those conditions, but then, if a new grad, and that was the only job offer so far....... Would the job, as far as the other stipulations, be acceptable otherwise? Then accept, work until you have good experience under your belt, and then move on if you must.

The thing is that I have other interviews in progress, and other recruiters contacting me regarding applications that I have already submitted. This offer is ideal for me, BUT conditions are not solid. Even thought it looks ideal right now during the hiring process, they can change anything at anytime after I am hired, trained and past the probation period.

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Would it be okay if I tell them that the only way I will accept this offer is if ... and give them my conditions. And also ask them to remove the statement at the bottom and replace it with specific duties for the position I am being hired for.

I feel that at this point I have nothing to loose as far as the job offer goes, but it is an opportunity to gain negotiation experience that will help me with other job offers.

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What you say in your last post is why I would pass on the job and seriously deal with other potential employers. These people want their cake and to eat it too. They are playing around at your expense. Most employers don't have time for cat and mouse. They lay it out on the line and the potential employee can take it or leave it.

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I would not waste my time trying to negotiate. You, as a new grad, have no leverage.

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

They're pulling a classic bait-and-switch. They need night staff and aren't getting any hits. So they advertise a day gig to score applicants. They hire you on the fly and get you to sign a contract that holds only you to account and absolves them.

The problem for you is that as a new grad day shift might not be realistic. By all means check out the other offers but you may have to reconcile yourself to working nights.

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Anything I should add?

"After carefully considering your offer, which sounds like a wonderful opportunity, I don’t believe it is the right one for me at this time in my life. I have, therefore, decided to decline your offer. I really thank you for the time and effort that you spent on my application for ... position. I also would like to cancel health screening appointment that I have scheduled for ....

I apologize for any inconvenience that I may have caused."

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