Benefits - I'm In Shock

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 25, 2014

The shock is due to never having worked under the circumstances before and to not realizing this ugly truth until recently.
If a person is ever really sick, 9 days won't go very far. I'm glad you're happy. Maybe I'm greedy or just remember how my benefits used to be.

I can understand why you are disappointed with the paid time off -- since you are coming from a different work environment and/or a different position. You seem to have assumed that nurses were compensated the same as physicians in a different environment.

But I also understand why some people are a little "surprised that your are shocked." I think they assume that someone would have investigated the typical compensation packages of an industry before choosing to work there. The types of PTO packages being described in this thread have always been typical for nurses working for hospitals. In fact, they are better than typical packages used to be.

In my first job as a hospital staff nurse at a university hospital in the 1970's, I got 2 weeks of vacation time, 2 weeks of sick time, and 6 holidays per year (a total of 26, 8-hour days ... or 208 hours total). Any unused vacation time would be "paid off" when you left, but the sick time would just disappear if not used. So if you saved it up for a major illness or pregnancy, you risked losing it if you left your job for any reason. That was standard for most hospital employees back then -- as was the requirement that I work straight night shifts for a year or so until I could get a 50/50 day night rotation position.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jun 25, 2014

My old job gave an additional 8 hours which was the option of receiving it paid or could go into the PTO bank. So basically you get 8 hours and get to decide what to do with them.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2018

I have to use PTO for holidays too. I generally like that all time comes out of one PTO bank. Usually I am scheduled the appropriate amount of hours even if I have the holiday off anyway. At my previous (non-healthcare) job it took me 7 years to get anywhere close to the amount of PTO that I received in my first year at my hospital. Also I got sick time, but it was separate from regular PTO. When I called in sick I could not use my "sick" time until the second consecutive sick day. I had 120 hours of sick pay that I earned but never got any compensation for. What a great reward for having good attendance!

Some places will buy back unused sick time. At my last job, you could sell 3 days of sick time for 1 day of time that would help your pension be bigger. It didn't seem quite fair, but it sort of (only sort of) made it less desirable to use that sick time.

A lot of people went out on extended sick leave / disability and then right into retirement. Who can blame them? They saw that sick time as a benefit, something they had earned.

You're so right about being punished for good attendance.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2018

We don't get any extra pay to work on a holiday, or a weekend. We have to "build up" sick time, meaning you could work for a year or two before you have enough sick time built up to actually get paid when you are out. Then, you only get paid for the 3rd day you are out. The first 2 consecutive days you are out sick, you don't get paid for, regardless how many hours you have built up in your "bank." You only get paid for the 3rd consecutive day out. Sounds crappy, but it discourages people from frivolously calling out sick. Our benefits are better in other ways, though: We are usually over-staffed, rather than under-staffed. Our insurance premiums and deductibles are low.

It also discourages them from calling off sick when they really could use a sick day. And it encourages them to work when sick.

I guess it's our pioneer background in America. Tough it out, never quit, new frontiers to conquer, etc.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jun 26, 2018

Since this thread was resurrected-

At my last job, our holidays were separate from our PTO. I started with 15 days of PTO, 6 holidays and 1 floating holiday. The company also changed PTO to use it or lose it and you forfeited anything that was left in your bank at the end of the year.

At my new job, holidays are included in PTO. I get 33 days/year of PTO and we observe 8 holidays. That laves me 25 days for vacation- a full 2 weeks more than I got at the job where holidays were separate. Staff nurses and other 24/7 positions make out particularly well in this scenario, IMO, because they don't have to use PTO to cover the holiday since they have ample opportunity to work their full hours that week, that gives them even more PTO to use for vacation.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jun 26, 2018

They do it that way so it's fair to the employees who are working a full schedule that week but aren't on the actual holiday where they would get time and a half. 25 days of PTO seems pretty generous, especially if those are 12 hour days so that's like 8 weeks.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2018

They do it that way so it's fair to the employees who are working a full schedule that week but aren't on the actual holiday where they would get time and a half. 25 days of PTO seems pretty generous, especially if those are 12 hour days so that's like 8 weeks.

It's 25 8 hour days. We get 264 hours/year. It's the best PTO policy I've ever had and was a big factor in my decision to accept this job. I went on a 40 hour vacation 3 months in and had 27 hours of PTO left at the end of it. 67 hours was over 1/2 of my annual PTO at my last job and I accrued that 3 months in at this job.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Jun 27, 2018

It's 25 8 hour days. We get 264 hours/year. It's the best PTO policy I've ever had and was a big factor in my decision to accept this job. I went on a 40 hour vacation 3 months in and had 27 hours of PTO left at the end of it. 67 hours was over 1/2 of my annual PTO at my last job and I accrued that 3 months in at this job.

Dang!

At my job I accrue 4.7 hours every two weeks. Sometimes 5.2 if I work 80 hours per pay period. That is a little over three weeks for sick AND vacation time. Holidays are eight hours plus 1.5x pay.

It's awful.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Jun 27, 2018

All holidays seperate and double time. PTO is 8 hours per 2 week pay period, starting when you start so everyone gets 5 weeks leave. Sick time is separate and earned as 4 hours every two weeks and ends up being two weeks a year.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2018

OMG some of you shouldn't complain. All we get is 36 hours PTO. For the year.you can only be sick for 36hours per YEAR. Sure. We get 4weeks vacation time, but you can't use it for personally sick time. It has to be planned before the schedule comes out, which is usually at least 3weeks prior. Needless to say we have lost lots of staff to "attendance" issues.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jun 27, 2018

OMG some of you shouldn't complain. All we get is 36 hours PTO. For the year.you can only be sick for 36hours per YEAR. Sure. We get 4weeks vacation time, but you can't use it for personally sick time. It has to be planned before the schedule comes out, which is usually at least 3weeks prior. Needless to say we have lost lots of staff to "attendance" issues.

You don't get 36 hours of PTO, then, you get 36 hours of sick time. Some of the "complainers" are stating their PTO allowance and that includes any time off for the year. No extra 4 weeks of vacation. I agree 36 hours of sick time is harsh, but 4 weeks vacation is nice.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 28, 2018

for holidays, we can get paid time and a half if we work the holiday or we can use PTO on the day we work and get paid double. If we don't work the holiday, we get nothing.