Can Management do this?!

colleen10 · Jun 13, 2003

As far as I know....

Unless you belong to a union that will protect your rights in these instances I don't think there is anything you can do about it.

You would be surprised at what employers can get away with.

ktwlpn, LPN · Jun 13, 2003

Yes-unless you are in a union-"they" can do anything they please....You have the right to leave or to suck it up and stay......Good Luck-this kind of thing really brings down moral by making staff feel de-valued...It sux.....

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Jun 13, 2003

Management can do pretty much what management wants.

It is up to you as to what you will put up with - or not.

renerian, BSN, RN · Jun 13, 2003

Yes they probably can. Our schedules always changed depending on the unit needs. We never worked the same schedule.

renerian

SmilingBluEyes · Jun 13, 2003

yes they can unless your contract with them states otherwise.

sjoe · Jun 13, 2003

Call your state Labor Relations Board (or whatever it is called there) for more reliable information. Those who maintain that management can do whatever it wants are simply incorrect. There are state, as well as federal, labor laws which apply in cases like this (the state ones varying, of course, from state to state).

If you don't already have a union, this new policy may be enough impetus to organize one (try the Teamsters).

-jt · Jun 14, 2003

Management has management rights & can do whatever the hell it wants to do - unless you are a union & have a collective bargaining contract. Even then, they can still TRY to abuse their management rights power but at least then you have a way to stop it. If you were a union, you could file a grievance to prevent them from changing everybodys schedule and then negotiate a different solution to help solve their problem without upending your lives. But management would still argue that they can do what they want without your approval because its their "management right" to schedule the unit according to its operational needs. You might then have to take your grievance to a third party arbitration and let them decide if management can do this or not.

This is exactly the situation we are having now at my hospital in one of the out-pt surgery depts. The doctors wanted to expand hours so instead of hiring the staff it needs, the manager arbitrarily decided that he would change the RNs shifts & stagger their start times. Nurses who worked 7-3 were told one week ahead of time that they would now be working 8-4 or 9-5 on a rotating bi-weekly basis "due to the operational needs of the unit & management right". We are disputing that and filed a grievance 'cause this little management decision violates 4 different sections of our contract, including "abuse of management rights" because he just made this change on his own without input from the RNs, never bothered to prove operational needs or even discuss the situation with the RNs, or ask for volunteers before implementing his new staffing idea.

If they have so much volume that they need to expand hours, then they need to hire more RNs to handle the extra hours and pts. We claim that what hes trying to do to these RNs is an abuse of management rights.

So the manager had to hold off & could not put the schedule changes into effect unless someone volunteers for the time change while we get this grievance resolved. And the doctors cant expand their business until there are RNs working those hours. That in itself might be enough incentive for them to hire more staff.

The point is that even if you are a union, they still try to do whatever they hell they want to do & push to see how much they can get away with, so whats to stop them when you arent a union? All you can do is meet with them & object. But they dont have to listen to you and they usually dont - until everybody resigns.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Jun 14, 2003

If you are in a "right-to-work" state, management can basically do what it wants. This sort of situation is especially rough if you are working nightshift. Without some sort of synchrony, and a very regular schedule, your body will feel out of sorts all of the time.