Contract question/need info!!

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Hi. Brand new to the forum, but have travel experience. Last assignment was 2005, and things seem to have really gone downhill in the industry here!! I was all set to sign a contract, and when they faxed it to me, there is a clause that says if I miss any time, I will be BILLED $26/hr by the company, and if I do not complete the contract, I will be liable for ANY AND ALL expenses the company has incurred. This is then spelled out, rent, utility connections...drug testing, etc. I faxed it to a friend who is an attorney, and he said I would be an idiot if I signed something like this. My recruiter assures me that ALL the major companies have this clause now, and everyone accepts it as standard. I have just had a terrible experience with a company that didn't pay me for over a month, and didn't reimburse my travel expenses, so I am being particularly cautious about finding another assignment.

My question - Is this in all the contracts now, that if you are sick or miss any time, the company can BILL you??:confused:

PS Pay isn't as good as three years ago, either!!

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I wouldn't sign this contract. Things happen. People get ill. If you miss a shift, then YOU are billed??? I CAN understand having to pay for housing (company usually rents apt. for 13 wks for you), but to have to pay $26/hr. for missing time?

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I would not sign this contract. I can understand having to pay for apt. if you don't finish the contract. The company usually rents apt. for 13 wks and will be out that money. To be billed $26/hr. for time missed?? People get ill..things happen. I have NEVER been short hours on an assignment..I usually work 7-8 shifts per pay period so I never really worry about hours... Maybe this would apply to you as well. Be careful...

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Thanks. That's what I am thinking, too. I have talked to another co. today that also bills you $170/shift if you miss. This just seems nuts! Not that I ever miss, but things do happen. What if you get in an accident on these insane freeways?? I mean, you are already not being paid. Come ON!!!!:banghead:

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Agencies base their housing costs on the fact that you are going to work so many guaranteed hours per week. If you do not work those hours, then they cannot bill for it and therefore are not getting the money for the housing.

The agencies that deduct for the missed hours usually permit you to make it up in the next three to four weeks as an extra day, and then you get the money back that they took from you.

Unfortunately if you are out sick, the company is still paying for your housing, etc. $26 per hour does seem extreme to me. The missing time is for the housing and that is all that it should be for. But I have done it with the $168 for the 12 hour shift and it has never been an issue. There are those that normally work more than their guaranteed hours so it is not an issue for them.

With any agency contract, if you do not complete the length of the contract for what ever reason, then you are responsible for the the remainder of the housing costs for that contract, and they do not have to pay your return transportation home either.

Pay is very dependent on the location as well as the cost of housing in that area, and all of those costs have gone up. And the bottom line comes down to what the hospital and agency have a contract for.

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Thank you, Suzanne. Let me reiterate that I am not someone who misses work. It's rare. Or worries needlessly. The amount (over $900/12 hr shift!!) does seem extreme, and that's what I balked at. If you are a traveler and you miss, there is no sick pay for you. It is one of the risks you take to make the (slightly) better pay (?). By the same token, the company is making a LOT of money by delivering you to the hospital's doorstep. Their risk factor is that after providing you with housing, you may be involved in an accident or catch the flu (or be a bum and go to the beach, or have a rotten day and feel too exhausted to work the next day), etc. In my realm, these tend to be exceptions to the rule.

Posting this topic on another site, I have heard from people working this type of contract from as far away as China. (By this type of contract, I mean being provided housing, daily monetary support for meals, travel, entertainment, etc.), and no one, outside of the travel nurse industry has ever heard of a company BILLING the EMPLOYEE for being sick. You aren't being PAID. No income generated that day. Companies who do this type of thing regularly understand that there's a risk involved. I just don't get why the nurse is the lowest-paid person in this scenario, and is suddenly expected to be the one to assume the majority of the risk. This contract spells out every possible situation where the company could get stiffed, and has a provision for said company's protection, usually involving monetary penalty. This is NOT how travel nursing used to be, btw. Overall, I have seen a tremendous decline in services, compensation, benefits, attitude of recruiters, loyalty and retention of nurses, and job satisfaction just since 2005, which is the last time I traveled. The difference between now and then is monumental. And the travelers I have talked to recently who have done this for a while agree immediately "Oh, it's NOTHING like it used to be."

An attorney I consulted (old friend) strongly advised me not to sign the contract after I faxed him a copy. He was astounded that anyone ever would sign such a thing. The (American) guy working in China said he would never sign anything like that. His final comment after hearing that this is becoming an accepted thing was "Nurses must be a bunch of **** *****". I wonder myself why we just complacently accept that it's ok for us to be the ones who incur not only the risk, but the penalties:twocents:...

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I made mention of the $168 for the shift to cover the housing, no place did I mention $900 per shift. And the contracts that I have seen from various companies give you about a month to make up the shift that was missed.

If you work per diem agency, and do not work, you do not get paid for the shift that you were to work. You do not have sick time with the agency in that case either.

And I have worked contracts with the $168 per shift, and it has not been an issue at all for me. The other perks more than make up for it. I just stated what I do, but I would never sign a contract with a $26 cancellation fee either. All I did was make a statement as to what is out there now.

Companies can set up their pay structure as they wish, it is up to you to find something that would work for you. You may wish to look into a company that pays you the stipend then and you take care of all of your expenses.

Yes, things are different now, and you need to find what works for you.

This is what is happening now in the US.

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My bad!! I meant $900/wk, as it would be if one were in an accident or hospitalized. It's over $300/shift. Sorry for the typo!! (Math has never been a particular love, anyway!)

Thank you for your interest; I am still talking to recruiters and I will either find a suitable position, or I will return from whence I came, wiser and a bit sadder...

Also, do you know why I was moved and buried in the specialty section? Is this more of a nursing forum or a corporate thing with a friendly mask?:rolleyes:

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Questions specific to travel contracts are normally moved to this forum, so you were not buried alive.

Allnurses.com is the largest nursing bulletin board in the world and we have many forums here, those questions that pertain to a certain aspect of nursing and not to general nursing questions are moved to the appropriate forum.

When there are extenuating circumstances, agencies will work with the nurse is most cases. They are not evil.

Best of luck to you and hope that you can find the agency that has the perfect contract for you.

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.

Yes, you were not buried. If they hadn't moved your post THEN you wold have been buried because those interested in travel might never have found it. Those of us who visit this section of the boards benefit from having your post moved here so we would be more likely to see it.

It just figures that travel nursing is going downhill just about the time I decide to give it a try. The same thing happened when I was a transcriptionist. I heard about great pay and working at home, but then when I decided to work at home, they switched from paying hourly to paying production. They also sent most jobs overseas and I wound up making less and less money every year.

*sigh* I'm always on the backside of the wave.

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Specializes in OB.
Yes, you were not buried. If they hadn't moved your post THEN you wold have been buried because those interested in travel might never have found it. Those of us who visit this section of the boards benefit from having your post moved here so we would be more likely to see it.

It just figures that travel nursing is going downhill just about the time I decide to give it a try. The same thing happened when I was a transcriptionist. I heard about great pay and working at home, but then when I decided to work at home, they switched from paying hourly to paying production. They also sent most jobs overseas and I wound up making less and less money every year.

*sigh* I'm always on the backside of the wave.

Don't feel that traveling is necessarily "going downhill". It may feel that way if you were hearing all the "fantasy stories" about incredibly high payrates that have always made the rounds.

The reality (from a perspective of traveling continuously for the last 12 years) is that the jobs are out there, the payrates are keeping pace with inflation (at least for me) and the benefits really haven't changed that much. (Some are better - almost none of the companies now have shared housing - which was pretty common when I started).

As for the fee for missed shifts - the amount nomad quoted was exorbitant, but I can understand the company charging the actual cost of housing prorated by the hours missed if not made up. They are paying for said housing whether we work our shifts or not and don't get paid by the hospital if we don't work. Again, I have found my company to be very reasonable when extraordinary circumstances occurred - no charge for housing when I had to take off from an assignment for my father's death or when I left an assignment early with good cause after trying to negotiate the issues. In both cases they could have been justified within the letter of the contract to take that money, but did not do so.

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