Favoritism with working(or not working) holidays

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2013

There's supposed to be a formula for who works the big winter holidays.

It doesn't matter though. If the current golden nurse wants off, they usually get off. It's just the way the world turns.

As long as managers are human, personal opinions will trump fairness everyday.

sistrmoon, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2013

One nurse did question one of the managers about it. Basically a bunch of excuses were given(like oh, X worked a lot of summer holidays.) I think most people are too afraid to question it though. These people aren't on orientation, btw.

lub dub · Dec 3, 2013

A couple of the new nurses on my floor aren't being required to work any of the major winter holidays. This is causing "unrest amongst the ranks" as you might imagine. One is being groomed to be a manager(yes, a new nurse, but that's another post,) the other apparently worked a lot of summer holidays(do Memorial Day and 4th of July equal Thanksgiving and Christmas?)
Have you had this happen? How was it handled? How do you think it should be handled?

This kind of thing does not happen in union hospitals.

Mandychelle79, ASN, RN · Dec 3, 2013

We have 7 paid holidays each year... New Years, Martin Luther King Jr, memorial, July 4th, labor, thanksgiving and Christmas. We work every other and since there is 7 it rotates each year. So this year I works mlk, 4th of July and thanksgiving. In 2014 I will work New Year's Day, memorial, labor, and Christmas. We are allowed to trade, and normally if scheduled to work the day of younger either the day before or day after off. For Christmas and New Years holiday off supersedes weekend schedule so technically it could be your weekend off but your holiday to work so you work.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Dec 3, 2013

In union hospitals, holidays are based strictly on seniority, and nothing else. If everyone with seniority happens to be from the same ethnic group, town, or ward, too bad for those who aren't.

rnkaytee · Dec 4, 2013

We're union and don't do it by seniority - otherwise, how would the floor get staffed with "newbies" vs veterans?

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2013

In union hospitals, holidays are based strictly on seniority, and nothing else. If everyone with seniority happens to be from the same ethnic group, town, or ward, too bad for those who aren't.

...I don't think that you've worked in a lot of hospitals...

My union hospital does not work that way. Same goes for several other posters here.

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2013

In union hospitals, holidays are based strictly on seniority, and nothing else. If everyone with seniority happens to be from the same ethnic group, town, or ward, too bad for those who aren't.

In my union hospital, holiday rotation was decided upon on a floor by floor basis, as long as it was agreed that the system was equitable. For instance, in my ED, the scheduler would send out a survey at the beginning of the year, where you would rank the holidays in order of which you wanted off. If you had a particular holiday off one year, you would generally work it the next. Seniority was NOT a factor.

Now that I am per diem, I am only required to *be available* (not necessarily work) one holiday out of the year. Yay!

Guests · Dec 4, 2013

For the fall/winter holidays (Thanksgiving through New Years), we prioritize 1-6 which we'd like off and typically get #1 and #2... but otherwise pretty random though they also balance out the skill set and experience so we don't end up with all the newbies together for a shift.

canigraduate · Dec 4, 2013

I have worked at three different facilities, and each one has a different method.

The first facility divided staff into two groups and each group worked every other holiday, with 8 hour shifts on the major holidays so that everyone could spend time with their families. Ex: Group 1 worked Christmas Eve, Group 2 worked Christmas Day, 1-New Year's Eve, 2-New Year's Day. Then, after New Year's, the groups switched for the following year so no one had to work the same holiday two years in a row. Switches and trades were allowed.

The second facility gave a preference list of 1-5 with 1 being least able to work and 5 being most able to work for the winter holidays. Summer holidays didn't count. Ex: I put Thanksgiving as 1, Christmas Day as 5, Christmas Eve as 4, New Year's as 3, New Year's Eve as 2. They tried to get your preferences as close as possible. Switches and trades were allowed.

The facility where I work now has a really screwed up system where the people who have been there more than 10 years get to choose what they want off, so they never work a holiday. People who have been there less than 2 years don't even get to ask, you just get what days they give you. The people in between 2-10 years ask off what they want and are granted according to seniority. Switches are allowed, but frowned upon. I guess this comes from the days where people lived in the same place their whole lives.

canigraduate · Dec 4, 2013

I totally forgot to address the OP. My bad, having an ADHD day. So, I like the impartial group 1/group 2 system. That way those issues don't arise.

When I worked in a nursing home though, holidays were all handed out to the ADONs' cronies. This just happened to coincide with a lot of other stuff, so Corporate Compliance became involved and scheduling was straightened out as a side effect.

I would suggest an impartial way to do the scheduling starting next year. I think that this late, this year's schedule is a wash.

amoLucia · Dec 5, 2013

There's supposed to be a formula for who works the big winter holidays.
It doesn't matter though. If the current golden nurse wants off, they usually get off. It's just the way the world turns.
As long as managers are human, personal opinions will trump fairness everyday.

As the old saying goes - "Rank doth have its privileges".

Not saying it's right or fair.