ED RN refused per diem, is this legal?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Wants Per Diem,

The short answer is no; I'm sorry, but your former employer is not legally required to give you a per diem position.

If you were an at-will employee, employment means you or the employer can terminate the relationship without consequence, which you did.

It's possible that you could have requested a per diem position related to family or medical reasons under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), but that would have to have been explored before you terminated.

Don't take it personally, as you are an excellent performer and have been offered a full-time position. It's possible your manager does not want to have per diem staff. As a former manager, I found per diems challenging to manage. It's hard for managers to update them on staff meetings, ongoing education, competencies, etc. They are typically minimally engaged and focused elsewhere, such as on another job.

You could meet with your manager and ask if any part-time positions are available or apply per diem to other facilities. 

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

[JKL33]

Quote

Can she legally refused to keep me as an employee.

Yes, of course. You resigned from the position that they needed filled. That is a resignation from employment with the company unless both of you wish to continue the employment relationship under completely different terms than those for which you were originally hired.

I'm curious how/why you would have imagined it any differently after all these years in the nursing workforce. You do (did) have some kind of employment agreement associated with the position for which you were hired, but you have resigned your employment/position. 

If they cannot utilize per diem nurses at your former place, apply elsewhere.

~ Good luck! ~

Nurse Beth said:

As a former manager, I found per diems challenging to manage. It's hard for managers to update them on staff meetings, ongoing education, competencies, etc. They are typically minimally engaged and focused elsewhere, such as on another job.

As a former one myself, I can see how that would be basically true. I did attend meetings, kept up with competencies, generally worked quite a bit and came in on short/no notice in all hours of the day or night, so I think it was mutually beneficial for quite a number of years. Until it wasn't (following a corporate takeover). The way my bedside nursing career officially ended was following a period of low census where FT RNs were frequently being called off, the other per diems were worried about paying bills cause there were no hours for them/us, so I played it cool and didn't beg for hours--and they didn't call. One day about 6-8 weeks in I received a group text addressed to us per diems that we needed to step up and keep our commitments. ?

I asked for an in-person meeting, wrote a professional and warm resignation and thank you letter, had a great talk with my manager and left on a gracious note I'm proud of. And have never looked back. ??

[angelrn1]

in the olden days we could drop from ft to perdiem but now a days they want the perdiem position to be available  and applied for . they say more efficient way to run the schedule with right amt nurses in diff job catagories. and hr has the power to create what job positions work for that dept

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

JKL33 said:

One day about 6-8 weeks in I received a group text addressed to us per diems that we needed to step up and keep our commitments. ?

That's so sadly funny !!