Changing contract midstrea

A contract is, well, a contract. Your terms would reflect the terms of the facility at the time you signed. When a facility contract changes, it is standard to allow any existing travelers on assignment to finish under the original terms (not including an extension if agreed after a facility contract change). If the agency were horrible negotiators (or made a mistake on your originall contract) they should have to eat any extra cost. In my opinion, it was bad form to even ask you to sign a new contract.

Do what you like, but no matter how nicely they asked, I'm getting bad vibes from this agency. I'd play hardball, and if they don't acquiesce, I'd never work for them again and out them on social media.

7 minutes ago, NedRN said:

A contract is, well, a contract. Your terms would reflect the terms of the facility at the time you signed. When a facility contract changes, it is standard to allow any existing travelers on assignment to finish under the original terms (not including an extension if agreed after a facility contract change). If the agency were horrible negotiators (or made a mistake on your originall contract) they should have to eat any extra cost. In my opinion, it was bad form to even ask you to sign a new contract.

Do what you like, but no matter how nicely they asked, I'm getting bad vibes from this agency. I'd play hardball, and if they don't acquiesce, I'd never work for them again and out them on social media.

I haven’t had any other problems with the agency, though I get the sense that my recruiter is somewhat inexperienced. The facility I was talking about being sketchy was the hospital itself, and considering how horribly it treats it’s actual employees I’m not surprised they feel like they can change it without compensation.

I guess I was wondering if my recruiter’s inexperience was leading him to ask me something nonstandard or if this was normal for traveling and I hadn’t experienced it before.

But your advice is good, and was in line with my thinking.

Thanks

Certainly not unheard of to be asked and my advice has always been the consistent answer I gave you. Yes, newer recruiters (and even experienced ones) don't get contracts, hourly workers, and how their requests and mistakes affect us.

I have often asked for contract changes myself after starting an assignment - usually related to on call (OR nurse), a policy that is dramatically different from facility to facility and one that virtually no recruiter understands. Most of the time I simply want to change the contract to reflect the same rules (not the same pay) as staff for fairness in how on call requirements are assigned.

The other way to look at it is that you're 7 weeks in, and assuming you're on a 13 week assignment, that's 6 weeks left. You can be called off up to 3 times before that time is up. Is that ok with you?

I agree with Ned, and I wouldn't personally sign it. I definitely wouldn't renew knowing that is the new policy. Most contracts I worked allowed for them to cancel me three times during the contract, but guaranteed hours outside of that, or were all guaranteed hours. In terms of a contract changing, I was informed mid-contract that a high-paying hospital I was at was decreasing their pay; it was honored until the end of my contract, but had I renewed again I would have had to accept the reduced rate.