Bad Contracts with Bad Agencies

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Sorry to have to post something like this, but I have been receiving horror story after horror story the past few weeks, and there is absolutely no reason that you have to put up with any of those lies.

From DHEL28's agency placing 9 people in one apt without heat in NYC in the winter, and only one bathroom, they were told that accommodations were provided. And not even a bed, they had to buy that for themselves. To another agency incorrectly filling out documents so that the nurse got denied, then telling the nurse that the agency was going to pay for an attorney to go to Washington DC to correct things. But one year later they have not been resubmitted with the corrections, and number two, the immigration centers are not in Washington D.C. And this nurse was also told that the agency would know twenty seconds after arriving in the US that he was here. Impossible. And another that had a $25,000 cancellation policy but told that if she tried to leave, it would cost her about $100,000.

If you are having issues with your agency being untruthful and taking advantage of you, please contact the Embassy for your country here in the US, as well as the US Embassy in your home country where you had your interview.

Once you have arrived in the US, you cannot be deported. Do not let an agency threaten you with this. The green card gives you permanent residency.

hi, this is a very nice topic indeed. How would you know if the agency are deducting from your salary? Shouldn't it be part of the contract?

Mine has a termination fee of $18,000 to $33,000.

Specializes in Med/Surg/Med-Tele/SDU/ED.
how would you know if the agency are deducting from your salary?
from a friend of a student: she was happy when she got to the us on an $18/hour salary. (that's p936 per hour! she earns in 1 hour what she earned here in 3 days.)

after 6 months, she accidentally learned that the other nurses in her ward (doing the same job) were earning $24/hour.

she did the math:

$24/hour - $18/hour = $6/hour

$6/hour x 8 hours per day = $48/day.

$48/day x 20 days = $960/month.

$960/month x 12 months = $11,520/year

$11,520/year x 2 (2-year contract) = $23,040 over 2 years

in essence she was giving the agency p1,198,080 over 2 years if she does not do ot. all ot has similar "adjusted" rates, and she can't sideline without informing the agency. if she does ot, she's just giving more money to the agency.

she didn't get a sign-on bonus (which the other nurses in her ward got). the agency said they used the bonus to process her papers.

you know what sucked?

the $24/hour was their salary for the first 6 months. the salaries were raised to around $30/hour after 6 months because they "had experience." her salary was pegged by her contract at $18/hour for 2 years.

so the adjusted amount was

$24/hour - $18/hour = $6/hour

$6/hour x 8 hours per day = $48/day.

$48/day x 20 days = $960/month.

$960/month x 6 months = $5,760/1st 6 months

$30/hour - $18/hour = $12/hour

$12/hour x 8 hours per day = $96/day

$96/day x 20 days = $1,920/month

$1,920/month x 18 months = $34,560/last 18 months

$5,760/1st 6 months + $34,560/last 18 months = $40,320 over 2 years

$40,320 = p2,096,640 over 2 years

to reiterate, if she does ot, she's giving more money to the agency on top of this figure.

note that these figures are the deductions from your salary.

that's when she realized why the other rns in that agency were jumping ship.

and why it's a good idea not to know the salary rates of your co-workers.

i don't know what this nurse did, i don't see the student anymore.

but this is the kind of stories i hear from the people who signed up with agencies here in manila.

and why i advise my students to keep an eye open for when the us hospitals come here for direct hiring. us hospitals who do direct hiring here give you the same salary rates & benefits as our us counterparts.

shouldn't it be part of the contract?
contracts do not contain deductions (to my knowledge). they contain what your salary rate is, and the benefits.

the ideal is to draw up a contract with the hospital/employer directly.

some agencies have learned, and now draw up contracts between the rn and the agency, then between the agency and the hospital--a "go-between." so you can't complain to anybody about your much lower salary.

this is from anecdotes from some of our students.

bottomline is to study the contract before you sign.

if you do sign, you'll have to honor your part of the contract. most current agency contracts had been fine-tuned to close the loopholes, so don't bet on a maverick lawyer getting you off the hook.

mine has a termination fee of $18,000 to $33,000.
ouch.

shucks! now I think that they will be deducting from my salary. :( just hope that its not going to be that huge coz I have a three year contract with them.

My mom's sister used to be a nurse in the states. And it was not stated in her contract that the agency will be deducting from her salary, and so she took legal actions. Apparently, she won the case and was therefore released from the agency. That is why I never really thought that they would do such things.

How is the agency getting paid? They are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. The same way that there is NO FREE GREEN CARD. Someone is payinf for it, and you may be, at the tune of a loan of about 700%.

Agencies are paid either by the facility or the nurse, or a combination of both. There are some unscrupulous agencies that are essentially taking $5 per hour from the nurse, about 20% of the pay in most cases, as well as billing the facility.

As long as there are people that sign contracts with them, they are going to continue to do it.

And if it is not in the contract, then it doesn't exist. And if they did not specify how they were being paid, then they have nothing to prove, you signed the contract.

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There had to be more to the contract that your family member signed, just not incuding how they are being paid is not enough to get a contract cancelled.

If the agency can afford an office in the Philippines, as well as the US; the money is coming from somewhere. And not from them.

Hi all,

This is my first time to this site. I am not a nurse. My partner and I are considering starting an agency. He is a CRNA and was a nurse before that. I am the paper pusher. I am not here to solicit or recruit. I am interested in what nurses have to say, what they want, and welcome all commentary and advice. Reading this thread I'm saying "Oh my God.." to the horror stories. We are throes of research and writing a business plan. Upon an early survey we have gotten very positive responses to our potential endeavor.

I would welcome any and all comments if anyone would like to share. I am in Clinton Township.

hello lost stranger can u pm me the name of the agency, pls. so i will be guided

hello every one i do understand that there are hospitals which does direct hirig of nurses en i think its better to get the bull by its horns all that has been on this forum is about bad, bad , bad agencies i have not seen anythin about good agencies does this mean no good agencies ?? ok too much on this

any one who know hospital doing direct hiring??? please do IM me

i will be very glad:icon_hug:

Suzanne, you are definitely right that signing a contract with the hospital directly is probably the safest option. But as I found out here in India, most of the agencies do not allow the nurse to do that and expect the nurse to sign the contract with the agency. Some of the agencies have local representatives who expect the nurse to pay a sum ranging from 5000$ to 8,000$ before even getting to US just for "processing". This is not the story for some agencies but is common for most of them, I spoke to some of my fellow nurses about the above situation but they have seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that this is the prevelant practice and we have to "make this sacrifice" if we ever want to get to US. If anyone can PM me about any good agency, I could approach, I would be highly obliged as I am at my wit's end.

Suzanne, you are definitely right that signing a contract with the hospital directly is probably the safest option. But as I found out here in India, most of the agencies do not allow the nurse to do that and expect the nurse to sign the contract with the agency. Some of the agencies have local representatives who expect the nurse to pay a sum ranging from 5000$ to 8,000$ before even getting to US just for "processing". This is not the story for some agencies but is common for most of them, I spoke to some of my fellow nurses about the above situation but they have seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that this is the prevelant practice and we have to "make this sacrifice" if we ever want to get to US. If anyone can PM me about any good agency, I could approach, I would be highly obliged as I am at my wit's end.

No one has to sign with any of those agencies; and those that do, they need to take responsibility.

Where do you sieh to work? What area? What experience do you have?

Hi can somebody please send PM me the list of good and bad agencies so I could avoid them too and be guided. If you could send me list of California hospitals that could sponsor foreign nurses it would be very much appreciated too. thanks everyone

I think every nurse thinking about going thru a alocal agency should read this thread first. I just had to take a look at my contract and phew:yelclap: seems everything is in order. I will be an employee of the facility not the agency, my salary is stated, housing, orientation process, adjustment of salary after completing orientation to top it all my cancellation fee is just $6,000.00. I shouldered all the expenses for my NCLEX and IELTS exams plus the attorneys fee and visa fee of my dependent, the rest were taken cared of by the facility.

I found the agency on the internet, it was just my second choice the first one offered me a post in NY for $28/hr which I even had second thoughts with because of the cost of living they raised it up to $32/hr but still had to decline cause I dont know anybody in NY.I settled for NJ which offered a 28 to be adjusted upon regularization.

I think every nurse thinking about going thru a alocal agency should read this thread first. I just had to take a look at my contract and phew:yelclap: seems everything is in order. I will be an employee of the facility not the agency, my salary is stated, housing, orientation process, adjustment of salary after completing orientation to top it all my cancellation fee is just $6,000.00. I shouldered all the expenses for my NCLEX and IELTS exams plus the attorneys fee and visa fee of my dependent, the rest were taken cared of by the facility.

I found the agency on the internet, it was just my second choice the first one offered me a post in NY for $28/hr which I even had second thoughts with because of the cost of living they raised it up to $32/hr but still had to decline cause I dont know anybody in NY.I settled for NJ which offered a 28 to be adjusted upon regularization.

Hi VGSRN,

I sent you a PM for the name of the agnecy. Thank you so much for posting this helpful information.icon14.gif

quotedpost was edited, as was done above.

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