Brief backstory: I am a registered nurse. I graduated in 2011 and found my first job in a hospital that same year working on a floor. I worked 80 hours every 2 weeks, which consisted of six 12 hour shifts and one eight hour shift. The hospital had high turnover and was in an economically depressed area in upstate NY. I worked at that hospital for about seven months before moving on and moving to a different state.
Generally I worked my six twelve hour shifts in succession so that I could have a long stretch of days off. For example, I would work my six twelve hour shifts in a row then get like 8 days off. However, even though I would sometimes 60 to 72 hours in one week, I was never paid overtime. My coworkers explained that because the two weeks were averaged into a single pay period and that because I didn't go over 80 hours, I wouldn't receive overtime. I didn't know much about labor and how that all works so I just accepted that as true. Now its 2014 and when I tell people about how I was paid, they all tell me that what my employer was doing was illegal.
Is that true? How far back would I even be allowed to take action for this?
We can not stack shifts so that all of the shifts are in one week, and hardly any in another. If there is stacking, it needs to be 40 hours in one week, 40 in another. We are paid every 2 weeks. That way, they do not have to pay overtime for any one week where there's an extra 12 hour shift in the mix for one week.
I am surprised, OP that they allowed you to stack in that fashion. But because they did, I would look at your state labor laws to see if overtime is granted above 40 hours. If you were union at the time, get in contact with a union rep. Ask what the contract says, and they can assist you.
I don't like being paid every 2 weeks. It is frustrating to budget. But it saves the facility money, apparently. So I look at it as a convenience thing as opposed to anything else.
A number of facilities are being audited for the same exact type of a thing. You can call the labor board of the state you were in and ask....
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I was non exempt. I was a floor nurse. I punched in at a time clock every day and I would even get reprimanded if I punched in early. All the floor nurses are non exempt. This was a new graduate nurse floor nurse position.
Hummm....New York has some good labor laws. They also have laws against mandatory OT for nurses. You need to call the labor board. If this is NY they are pretty specific about OT over 40 hours...period. I have never worked in NY so I am not sure.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Ok, so then yes, they were in violation of federal law. They probably (correctly) assumed that most people wouldn't realize it.
I was a new grad floor nurse too. And I was still considered "exempt". All staff nurses at this particular hospital were treated as "exempt" employees so the hospital didn't have to pay us any overtime. We were so far from exempt employees it was ridiculous.
That should be argued...your duties are not administrative and you dint hire/fire workers. I know of another that tried and stopped when investigated by the AG from an anonymous tip.
So you scheduled yourself to work six 12's in a row so that you could have a week off every other week and now you want to go back and sue them for back pay???? WOW!!!!
(I read the links)
I did not self schedule. They scheduled me and asked people if they wanted long stretches off or if they wanted things spread farther apart.
So they did not offer you a job that was 12 hour shifts?
You did not accept that job and agree to work 12 consecutive hours as part of your employment agreement?
Yes, the job offered was 12 hour shifts, 80 hours biweekly. But it appears they if they want to compute overtime on a biweekly basis under the 8/80 system, they have to pay overtime for the extra 4 hours of each 12 hour shift you work. Am I not reading that right? Contracts to waive overtime don't seem to be legal.
I'll call the labor board to clarify. Thanks for the feedback. To the people who are in a state of shock over the fact that I might have been screwed out of overtime that I might have earned, you may want to reread the link from the NYS department of labor that I posted as well as the federal site for the DOL.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Most floor nurses are considered "non-exempt" and thus, subject to overtime laws. However, just because someone punches a clock before and after work does not automatically mean they are exempt employees. Until very recently, even our exempt employees (care providers, managers) had to punch in and out, so that The Man could keep track of when they came and went.
It does appear, even if the employee had agreed to it, that what that facility was doing was in violation of the federal OT laws, because they required them to work 12s instead of 8s. Would I personally go back, years later and demand back pay? Probably not. I might, however, contact HR of the facility and alert them to the federal laws.
At my first nursing job, I chose to work 6 in a row so I could have 8 off (I had my kids during that 8-day period - during my work stretch, they were with their father). However, I could only start my 6-day stretch of work on a Thursday night, so that I would evenly straddle two calendar weeks and not accrue any OT.
I don't understand why some people are finding fault with the OP for wanting pay due to her under the law, regardless of whether she scheduled herself or not.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I'll call the labor board to clarify. Thanks for the feedback. To the people who are in a state of shock over the fact that I might have been screwed out of overtime that I might have earned, you may want to reread the link from the NYS department of labor that I posted as well as the federal site for the DOL.
Here is the deal. No one is in shock. Labor laws vary state to state facility to facility. NO ONE can accurately answer your question for I do NOT know what the specific policy is for that institution or what agreement you signed when you agree to work at that facility. When you sing your employment papers in orientation and the HIPAA/confidentially agreement and employee handbook agreement...did you read them all to see what exactly you were signing? If you didn't you might not have a leg to stand on. Hospitals are VERY good at skirting the law yet remaining legal. I have not worked in New York but when I went to the DOL website it does appear that there is a law that states over 40 hours/wk regardless of 8/80 or 40/hrs OT is to be paid.
Where I have worked based on the 80 hour they were within the law as long as the employee did not exceed over 80 hours in 2 week. However they had to stack their shift over the weekend having some on each week Yes it was an agreement with an alternative schedule agreement between the employee and employer.
They only way to accurately get your question is to call the labor board.
"The Act applies on a workweek basis. An employee's workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It need not coincide with the calendar week, but may begin on any day and at any hour of the day. Different workweeks may be established for different employees or groups of employees. Averaging of hours over two or more weeks is not permitted."
How does what I just copied from that website support your idea that I would not accrue overtime if paid biweekly?
See that "It need not coincide with the calendar week, but may begin on any day and at any hour of the day" part? If you work 6 12s and one 8 in seven consecutive days, and the hospital pays you biweekly, you're still working seven consecutive days and earning more than 40 hours f pay in 168 consecutive hours.
We can't give legal advice here, but it appears that an attorney well-versed in wages and hours disputes in your state would be the place to go for it. If you get one from TAANA, bonus points.
Hmm. I was gonna tell you to go fish, because I assumed the statute of limitations had long passed. However there is a six year statute of limitations on the overtime law in New York. (I can hear my husband now..."Bunch of #@$# liberals"... LOL) It appears it could be a valuable claim too, from a (very) cursory review. I'd call a lawyer. Employers get away with this crap because people let them.
Here's how it works where I am: I signed a 12/40 OT agreement where I work, meaning that I will be paid for anything over 12 hours in a shift OR 40 hours a week. I think we all understand this so far. The only way I can get 40 hours in a week without getting any OT is to work 3 12-hr shifts and a 4-hour shift in a week. 4-hr shifts are pretty uncommon where I work. In fact, I haven't worked one in the 7 months I've been an RN. The only time the issue even comes up is if someone needs the last 4 hours of a 7a-7p off, or the first 4 of a 7p-7a, and they find someone willing to come in for those 4 hours. Pretty rare.
The ONLY way I can work 6 shifts in a row in order to get that 8-day stretch off (with no OT) is to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday in week 1, and Sunday, Monday, Tuesday in week 2, then repeat that pattern during the next 2 weeks. We have a 4-week scheduling period where I work, so I suppose it's possible, but highly unlikely.
I wonder if the OP signed something like a 12/80 OT agreement?
jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B
9 Articles; 4,800 Posts
We can not stack shifts so that all of the shifts are in one week, and hardly any in another. If there is stacking, it needs to be 40 hours in one week, 40 in another. We are paid every 2 weeks. That way, they do not have to pay overtime for any one week where there's an extra 12 hour shift in the mix for one week.
I am surprised, OP that they allowed you to stack in that fashion. But because they did, I would look at your state labor laws to see if overtime is granted above 40 hours. If you were union at the time, get in contact with a union rep. Ask what the contract says, and they can assist you.
I don't like being paid every 2 weeks. It is frustrating to budget. But it saves the facility money, apparently. So I look at it as a convenience thing as opposed to anything else.
A number of facilities are being audited for the same exact type of a thing. You can call the labor board of the state you were in and ask....