Does the Clinical Ladder violate Labor Laws?

[Valerius]

Does anybody have any expert information regarding Clinical Ladders in violation of labor laws? Or examples of cases (related to clinical ladders) challenged in the court of law for violating labor laws?

I have read and studied a lot to understand the Synergy Model of Nursing theory and it's application in the nursing profession. Now, I want to go a step further; Is it the best and fair way for an institution to recognize and compensate for the performance of the nurse, or to encourage the nurse to pursue a higher degree of education?

As an example, my institution is not able to, nor can it show that a clinical ll or a clinical lll have different expectations when working side by side within a 12 hour shift. Nor do they have different job descriptions. However, the clinical lll nurse is being finacially compensated (8% more) for doing exactly the same job as everybody else. I know that the 'Equal pay Act was passed into law to deal with salary inequalities between men and women, but it has been used in court arguments similar to this, and the Equal pay Act doesn't even require 2 employees to have exactly the same job descriptions to be compensated equally, the language in the law says 'similar job descriptions'.

I know that clinical lll and lV nurses are required to participate in committees, etc, etc, etc.....but, they are paid for that extra time they put into these "extra curricular activities", and in a 12 hour shift, when two nurses report to work, one is being paid more when both are expected to provide the same care. Clinical lll or lV nurses are never expected to be the first ones to take extra patients when short staffed, or to take the most challenging assignments, or to do CVVHD, or to precept a new employee. The charge nurse making the shift assignment is more inclined to give the 600 lb patient to the young male nurse because can lift more than the 62 year old female nurse; however, he can not claim or demand extra payment because they have the same job descriptions and both are expected to perform the same tasks.

There is also such a thing encoded in labor laws as discrimination based on education....there is a famous McDonald's case where an employee with a college degree was being paid more than a high school kid when both had exactly the same job descriptions of flipping burgers side by side. The court ruled in favor of the high school kid. The state is the organ that grants nursing licenses, not making distinctions between the diploma, associate, or baccalaureate degrees.....then, the hospital creates these artificial classes of nurses that don't exist.

What are your thoughts on this? I'm particularly interested in hearing about the legality part of the whole argument.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Would you include in your question nurses who are paid for having more experience when they are performing the same functions as a new grad? How about nurses who have more years in a given institution being paid more than their counterparts who are performing the same function?

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

let's not confuse "job description" with "expertise." if you think this is a "violation of labor laws," it's painfully obvious where you stand on this because of, well, where you sit. let's see how you feel about it when you have more experience, have spent more time serving on committees (whether or not you're compensated for the time involved), havae spent time in continuing education to improve yourself, and so on. think a new grad novice hire rates the same pay as you now?

from where i sit, it looks perfectly reasonable to attract retain more experienced nurses whose hard-won expertise enriches those around them and enhances patient care in an institution by paying more to said nurses.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I'm failing to see how someone being promoted for their experience and loyalty to an institution could violate labor laws. As far as compensation goes, the law says very little other than that all employees must be paid minimum wage and that non-exempt employees must be paid overtime for hours worked > 40 in a week.

The Equal Pay Act was put in place to prevent wage inequality based on gender. The law specifically says that it does not apply when one person is paid more because of seniority or merit.

"(1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee."

http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm

[fiveofpeep]

Experienced nurses are worth more and they do provide more quality care, exceptions aside. And this is coming from a relatively new nurse with 2 years of experience.