CA/ State Prison RN job question

surgnurse26 · Oct 26, 2006

they have not raised the pay yet, as i stated in my post that you quoted.
it has not happened yet.
its going to be raised to 97,000-107,000.
the rates of 6600 a month is the current rate.

when is this raise expected and does the 107k exclude any type of differential and overtime.

tirzo13 · Oct 27, 2006

when is this raise expected and does the 107k exclude any type of differential and overtime.

its straight pay.

with OT i'm sure many will be at $150,000 at least.

there are many MTA/LVN here at the prison who made $130,000 with OT last year.

tirzo13 · Oct 27, 2006

Are you kidding me?? 100/k a year. I'm in management and don't make anywhere near that.

yeah, alot of money.

my mom has been an RN for 30 years and I make way more than her.

CA prisons pay more.

I know plenty of nurses who have been in it longer than me, have more difficult jobs, yet still make alot less.

its a state prison.

few people want to work here, so they pay more to attract staff.

even with the pay, they can't attract enough, or people leave.

the pay is not in relation to what you do or for how long you been doing it, its where you do it (a prison), is the reason for the inflated pay compared to a hospital.

The federal reciever is doing this.

He is appointed by a federal judge, the governor and state have no say in the matter, he can do what he wants while trying to fix the health care in the prisons.

he is the one who said to get rid of the MTA's.

Not a job for everyone, no matter what they pay you.

Sheri257 · Oct 27, 2006

when is this raise expected and does the 107k exclude any type of differential and overtime.

That's a good question. Most people are predicting that it should take effect early next year, if not sooner. But, as always with state government, who knows.

When it comes to corrections pay it's very complicated. Even people who actually work for corrections don't understand it all ... different people will tell you completely different things even if they all work in the system. Even a lot of union reps don't understand how it all works.

Nevertheless ... after doing a bunch of research ... this is what I came up with. Of course, take it all with a grain of salt ...

When the first pay raise came down from the receiver, none of it applied to pension benefits, for example, because the pay raise was called a "retention and recruitment bonus" ... not base pay.

So ... I could be wrong about this but, even overtime pay may not have been based on the R&R bonus ... only the lower base pay. My husband is a state employee and none of his bonuses apply to overtime pay.

However, in the subsequent union contract that was negotiated last summer, nearly half of the first R&R bonus (8 of the 18 percent) was incorporated into the RN base pay and will now apply to pension benefits and, presumably, also overtime.

So the base salary has and will go up, but not all of the R&R bonus is going to be counted as straight salary.

Now, the next union contract won't come up for renegotiation for another three years but, eventually over time, at least part of this new bonus or, perhaps the remainder of the previous R&R bonus will probably also be incorporated into the base salary ... since that's what happened to some extent with the last contract.

:typing

Sheri257 · Oct 27, 2006

its straight pay.
with OT i'm sure many will be at $150,000 at least.

Not necessarily ... I'm sure people can still make a lot of overtime but, perhaps, not as much as they may think. Read the Unit 17 contract negotiated last summer that applies to Corrections RN's:

http://www.seiu1000.org/updates_2006/20060628_update.cfm

Unit 17

All Unit 17 classifications will have 7.5 percent added to their maximum salary rate effective January 1, 2007 ...

Unit 17 classifications in CDCR and DMH will receive the increases listed above, but their eighteen percent monthly recruitment and retention differential (R&R) will be decreased by 3.5 percent effective July 1, 2006, and 4.5 percent effective January 1, 2007 ...

where upon they will continue to receive a ten percent (R&R).

From what I understand, the R&R bonus is not considered straight pay. So it may not apply to overtime. I know for sure that it definitely doesn't apply to pension benefits because it's not considered base salary.

And, if you look at the core contract ... overtime is based on the "regular rate of pay." So, I hope I'm wrong about this but ... I don't think you can count on the R&R bonus for overtime pay rates.

This new, additional pay raise will probably also be an R&R bonus, since that's how they did it last time. I think eventually it will all be rolled into base pay but ... you can't necessarily count on that for now.

:typing

tirzo13 · Oct 28, 2006

MTA's are making 130,000 with OT.

we had a MTA last month make 14K with OT.

The base pay of the MTA is alot less than the 100,000 proposed by the receiver for the RN's.

so if a MTA who has a base pay much less than the future RN rate can make 130,000 a year, then next years RN should be able to at least match the lower paid MTA for the year.

course i don't see too many RN's here wanting to do overtime, all the MTA's/LVN's want OT, they get pissed when they get passed over.

Sheri257 · Oct 28, 2006

MTA's are making 130,000 with OT.
we had a MTA last month make 14K with OT.
The base pay of the MTA is alot less than the 100,000 proposed by the receiver for the RN's.
so if a MTA who has a base pay much less than the future RN rate can make 130,000 a year, then next years RN should be able to at least match the lower paid MTA for the year.
course i don't see too many RN's here wanting to do overtime, all the MTA's/LVN's want OT, they get pissed when they get passed over.

Again ... the base pay for RN's is probably not going to be $100K.

If they do it the same way they did last time ... they'll probably do a big chunk of it as an R&R bonus ... and that doesn't count as base pay.

This may be the reason why not too many RN's want to do overtime at your facility. Overtime is probably calculated on base pay which is approximately $14K less than the total pay when you include the R&R bonus, etc.

Look at the corrections link that was previously posted: Even though total RN pay is currently $6,635 a month ... base salary is lower:

Base Salary

Range A: $4,349.00

- $5,098.00 Per month

Range B: $4,609.00

- $5,423.00 Per month

My husband and I attended a CALPERs seminar this summer so we could find out more about his state pension and benefits. The first thing they emphasized over and over again was:

Don't listen to what other state employees tell you because a lot of them don't know what they're talking about.

There's so much misinformation about state pay, benefits, etc. ... it's often totally unreliable information.

As for the $130K a year and $14K a month including overtime ...

Did this person tell you they made $14K or, did you actually see their pay check? The reason I ask is ... some people exaggerate what they make.

This article points out that the top salary for an MTA is $68K year or about $5,700 a month. I figure they'd have to work an extra shift every day to get up to $14K a month ... which seems unrealistic.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=54494

:typing

surgnurse26 · Oct 28, 2006

Is there anyone that actually works for the california state prison system as a RN. All they need to tell us is what an 80 hour pay check net pays. That is what i am curious about. Can some one tell us what they make per hour as a RN and just forget about R&Rs and diferential?. This is my question. The salary monthly grade thing throws everything off. Do the make 35-50$ an hour, like i said, want to know straight pay, no bonuses or what. This is what will influence my desions to work in a california prison. someone please answer this.

tirzo13 · Oct 28, 2006

They bring in their paychecks and overtime checks in every month.

they spend work hours going over it and making sure the state did not rip them off.

every tax season they all bring in their paperwork to a certain person who taxes it to a very good tax person.

they are not shy about showing the paperwork.

The person who made the 14K last year was helping me decide what i should do, as i'm trying to decide if i want to go to DMH as a MTA or RN.

107,000 yr for the RN but retire at 55, or retire at 50 for the MTA and make about 80,000 straight pay.

with the old pay rate it was better to be a MTA as the difference was just a few hundred a month.

with the new pay rate it is better to be a RN, though still retirement at 50 for the MTA is huge.

many female MTA are married to CO's.

there are a few of these couples who combined made over $250,000 for the year.

I believe the top STATE nurse in california made 180,000 last year.

the top CO was just below that.

not wardens, not DON"s either, straight rank and file employee's.

Most MTA love OT.

I don't, i work maybe 2 a month.

without OT i take home 5,000, i'm a contracted employee, not state, if I was state i would make more.

that is AFTER taxes without OT.

I take home at least 60K this year, and i make way less than anyone else.

60K take home.

not 60k total per year, but take home.

we have plenty of contracted nurses making over 100,000 a year.

and they don't get as many days of OT that the MTA did.

now that the MTA are gone, those same contracted nurses will now make more than the 100,000 they made last year.

THE MTA had priority over contracted staff, so it was harder to get OT.

Now they beg us, i still say now because i don't care for the job that much, no matter how great the pay is.

what the state posts on the web is old.

i believe the rate you show is also what DMH shows.

the recruiter at DMH and ASH just told me 6800month starting now for RN, with 18% next year.

so 84k + 18% is what, about 100K.

it is what it is.

I don't know what to tell you about what you were told at the meetings.

I'm sure they also said the prisoners treat nurses with respect because they are health care providers.

and since nurse CARE, they won't hurt us.

actually nurses get all the brunt of the IM wrath.

when things don't go the way they want, nurses spend the most time with them, so they are pissed at us.

when there is a hit on staff, guess who is the easiest to hit.

think that vest (that nurses don't wear anyway) can stop a shank?

prisoners are smart.

they will come at you from the side and shank you on the side where the vest does not cover which we are not provided with anyway.

shank the individual in the lungs from the side and they can't even scream for help.

the vest is useless from a trained killer, which these guys are.

ask the nurse a question below the tower where there is a blind spot from the gunner, shank them there, no body will know who did it, or respond in time.

this is the reason we are paid more than other nurses outside of the system.

a female staff member was held hostage this year at a sacramento prison for 7 hours.

lucky for her nothing happened to her.

but i'm sure she will remember that for her whole life.

but imagine what went thru her mind for those 7 hours.

in fact a favorite nurse was attacked once.

they interviewed the IM, and he said he did it because she was an easy hit, even though he liked and respected her.

this is why we are paid well.

as far as the pay of my teammates.

all i know is i DO see the pay stubbs and tax forms.

I work with these people everyday.

none of us is shy about our pay.

everyone knows how much i make.

at the 6 month point everyone talks about where they are compared to last year.

yes, i know that people lie.

but there is a transparency with state pay.

everyone sees the list each year of the top paid individuals, its a pride thing that person has at the prison.

and each year someone else tries to be that person.

CO's max out pay is at 7 years.

CDCR MTA max out pay is at 5 years.

DMH MTA pay max out is at 1 year.

Nurses max out when hired.

Meaning a DMH MTA will make big bucks after the first year, while a correction MTA will have to wait 5 years.

Nurses make max rate right off the bat, but they have less opportunities for OT.

tirzo13 · Oct 28, 2006

Is there anyone that actually works for the california state prison system as a RN. All they need to tell us is what an 80 hour pay check net pays. That is what i am curious about. Can some one tell us what they make per hour as a RN and just forget about R&Rs and diferential?. This is my question. The salary monthly grade thing throws everything off. Do the make 35-50$ an hour, like i said, want to know straight pay, no bonuses or what. This is what will influence my desions to work in a california prison. someone please answer this.

its a salaried position.

not hourly.

pay is once a month.

OT pay is another check.

take the pay and divide by 160 hours to give you an estimate.

Sheri257 · Oct 29, 2006

we have plenty of contracted nurses making over 100,000 a year.
what the state posts on the web is old.
Nurses make max rate right off the bat, but they have less opportunities for OT.

Ok well ... this explains a lot of the confusion. If we're also talking contract nurses and other contract personnel then, that's a completely different story. I thought we were talking about staff. I didn't realize you were contract ... it's like comparing apples and oranges. It's two completely different situations.

This link says contract nurses are making $67 an hour on average without benefits. So yeah ... those contract RNs are probably already making a lot more than $100K. Currently staff nurses are making $38 an hour but that also includes base pay, the R&R bonus, health, pension benefits, etc.

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Communications/press20061017.html

But this corrections link also says those contract nurses are going to be phased out to pay for the new, second pay raise that was just ordered by the court (hence the $98-107K total RN staff salary depending on location).

Since the first pay raise cut the RN staff vacancy rate down from 38 to 15 percent, this new pay raise will probably eliminate the staff vacancy rate all together. So, I doubt most of those contract nurses will be around for long unless they convert to staff positions.

Yes ... the corrections pay link that was previously posted is valid up to July of this year and is somewhat out of date. But between that link and the new union contract ... I was trying to show you that most of the first new pay raise (which took effect in February of this year) was and will not be included base pay. And that means not all of it counts toward pension benefits either.

So, if you're doing some retirement calculations keep in mind that the max base pay was $5,423 a month as of July of this year. With the new union contract, the max RN base pay will increase by 8 percent next year or to about $5,857. That's probably what you should base your pension calculations on, not the total salary. Feel free to check it out with Calpers.

Who knows what's going to happen with this additional, second court ordered pay raise but, I seriously doubt they're going to add much more to the base pay because that means the state would have to significantly increase their contributions to the Calpers pension fund on top of paying the R&R bonuses. That makes these pay raises even more expensive from a budget stand point.

As that link points out: state benefits already cost an additional $11 an hour per staff RN, on average. So it's probably going to take a while for the union to convince the state to roll more of the R&R raise into base pay, especially since the union contract won't be up for re-negotiation for three more years.

:typing

Sylvia321 · Oct 29, 2006

this link says contract nurses are making $67 an hour on average without benefits. so yeah ... those contract rns are probably already making a lot

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/communication...s20061017.html >>>

that is the staffing agencies that are being paid the $67/hr, not the contract nurses. i think the agencies are offering the contract nurses between $30-35/hr to work in the prisons. i did post on some travleing nurse boards, to education the travelers how much profit the agencies are making, but that's another thread....