Can refusing mandation during state of emergency get you fired?

[abouttofly]

I live in New York and we were recently hit by a hurricane, which declared NY in a state of emergency. I work overnights as a CNA at a rehab and nursing home and was working the night of the hurricane. Of course, the morning shift was short and I was mandated and told if I didn't stay, I'd get fired. Being a single mom, there was no way I could stay. Considering that my relief did come and it was a different half of the unit they were trying to mandate me for, is it legal for them to fire me?

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

People get mandated a lot where I work it just depends on how short staffing is, it goes in waves, the PM nurses get it the worst! One person refused to be mandated on several occasions and was fired! This was not due to any disaster just typical short staffing!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

brandy1017 said:

I don't see small employers as the problem! It is the large corporations including healthcare, of course, that has used "at will" employment to intimidate and mistreat their staff. Also the large corp that are profiting via mass layoffs so they can outsource jobs to other countries, also major tax breaks to the point of Exxon Mobil with record billion dollar profits getting tax subsidies from our govt and from us with our tax dollars! In this time of record unemployment, the big corporations are continuing to make record profits and hold onto record cash reserves because they got rid of so many of their workers, cut benefits, reneged on pensions and retiree health benefits via the lax bankruptcy codes! Age discrimination and layoffs are rampant in big business and of course the govt via the Supreme Court has gone right along with this to make it almost impossible for victims of age discrimination to fight back! Common practice of large corp to fire older workers at the top of the payroll and replace them with newbies to save money on salary and now healthcare costs! This is happening in hospitals today and I know people that have been forced out of their jobs by this practice! What is so sickening about business in America today is that greed knows no bounds and the people at the top think its a chess game where they get the golden parachutes and bonuses from all the people they've laid off! Company forced into bankruptcy, another excuse for the people at the top to get millions in bonuses. There is literally no shame to these men and women!

It is the small businesses that are struggling the most because of the unfair advantage of large corp and also healthcare insurance for the many that still do provide it for their employees. The small businesses are also having the hardest time getting financing from the banks to expand and hire more workers. Also the truth is job creation and job growth has to come from the small businesses because the large corp are enjoying too much profit to want to restore jobs in America! Govt is not going to be a job creator because the republicans want to ensure the rich are not encumbered by taxes!

I'm thinking about putting more of my 401K money into the small business sector of indexed funds because frankly I don't want to support these greedy, large corporations and banks that are ruining our country!

I think all high school students should have education on personal finance, economics, and business, especially regarding how to create your own business because the reality is their aren't enough jobs in America for everyone and even with education you are still fighting over a limiting number of jobs as has been shown to be the case even in nursing which was considered a recession proof job!

For example I read that Milwaukee had 70,000 unemployed people looking for work and only 10,000 jobs available and that's only the number of people actively looking for work and considered unemployed, not the thousands more discouraged workers, underemployed and part time workers! I saw a man in the middle of the street at a busy intersection hawking ice cold bottled water to drivers as they passed by and I thought WOW! good for him, he's doing something to earn a living but at the same time, its sad that this is what it is coming to these days. You almost have to have a side job or business or creativity to earn enough now! Even for us "nurses" who feel we have a stable job we should also think of ways to earn income thru side jobs just in case something unexpected would happen.

I agree with everything you have said, you obviously feel very strongly about this subject. I was amongst the "laid off" 50 something downsized and unable to get a job, so you are preaching to the choir....the "Employee at Will" thing, which yes for the companies to screw the little guy....... was....."Can I be fired?" and the answer is YES......

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I'm happy to help out in an emergency if I'm ASKED. I am so very, very, unlikely to help out if I'm threatened. Mandating makes me less likely to come in and help during the less urgent times, and no, I don't buy that I'm abandoning anyone. I've check with the BON, and I KNOW where I stand on that count. Management is supposed to ensure that there are enough employees available to do the job, not me. If management is concerned enough to stay it's a big enough emergency for me to cancel my plans, but otherwise, tough.

[diva rn, BSN, RN]

applewhitern said:

Living in Florida and the gulf coast of Alabama, I have been thru many hurricanes. We were always required to stay at the hospital; once I had to stay for 5 days straight. We had to pack clothes, food, and water for ourselves as the kitchen would not be open to staff. We weren't allowed to bring our children to the hospital, so that was indeed an issue for me. We weren't allowed to sleep in the extra rooms, even tho we had discharged every patient we could. But what bothered us, was that the doctors were allowed to bring their spouses and their children, and they got to sleep in the patient rooms while the rest of us had to sleep on army cots in the hallway. As for abandonment, I was told that only a patient could "sue" you for this; not the hospital. Don't know if that is true or not.

WOW!-this really disturbs me.

I have lived in southeast Florida for many years. When I worked in PICU at the largest hospital in the area, we had a hurricaine plan that was made up long before the season ever started. Team A was to report before the storm and would stay until it was safe to leave-Team B would then take over when it was safe to travel the roads and relieve A...no matter how long it took...Team A was encouraged to bring their families-children and spouses!

There was a room with babysitters for the kids, games and activities were provided. Sleeping bags and of course FOOD and snacks. The kids actually had a great time. and b/c we had generators-no loss of power. The nurses took turns working and the ones with kids would go and hang out with them when not on duty. Of course we didn't have a full census b/c the doc's tried not to admit-but we had all of the home vent kids, and the complicated home care kids brought in just in case.

Everyone knew in advance what their roll would be--NO ONE was expected to call off..because they would have come to the hospital before the storm got too strong. (and no one did)

It was quite an adventure..and fortunately the storm wasn't too bad...and yes, the nurses were allowed to sleep in actual beds.

The only thing we couldn't do was bring pets...

But it was probably the only decent thing that this hospital did in all of the years I was there!!

I left there in 2007, so I don't know if they still have that policy in place or not. I hear they have changed hands.