first day

[acern72]

Starting my first assignment this week.

When reporting to an assignment is there more paperwork/test modules/drug screens to do or are you generally ready to go with the exception of Hospital/unit Orientation?!?

[NedRN]

Many hospital orientations have you do similar competences all over again plus policies. Usually more work than the agency competences. Kind of points out how worthless agency JC certification is: extra duplicated work with no added benefit to agency, hospital, or patients.

Fairly rare to redo drug screens but I did go to one hospital that redid all travelers. They were burned once by a forged agency screen.

[BonnieSc]

I had to read the policies beforehand, watch a ten minute video, and then whoosh! I was on the floor, on my current assignment. Kind of startling because I've always seen travelers get a whole shift or two of orientation on the floor, and sometimes they even have to sit through BS hospital orientations (but hey, if you're getting paid for it...) My last permanent job, we gave more orientation to someone who was just switching shifts on the same floor! But it's turned out fine, thanks to kind co-workers.

[NedRN]

Sometimes orientation is not paid. I'm starting at a hospital where the agency cannot bill for the first 15 hours. This causes all kinds of complications as you can imagine. You may have read about some agencies paying less for orientation and travelers getting mad. Well, that may be preferable to accepting a lower pay rate for the entire assignment just to cover orientation!

[ButterflyRN90, ASN, RN]

Sometimes orientation is not paid. I'm starting at a hospital where the agency cannot bill for the first 15 hours. This causes all kinds of complications as you can imagine. You may have read about some agencies paying less for orientation and travelers getting mad. Well, that may be preferable to accepting a lower pay rate for the entire assignment just to cover orientation!

Not paying for orientation is illegal. They may pay less as opposed to when you actually work, but they have to pay you. Your time isn't free and if a facility doesn't pay you, run! I turned down a psych position when they mentioned my four, 12 hour shift orientations were not going to be paid for.

[NedRN]

You are not understanding. It is the hospital not paying the agency. If the agency is not getting paid for your time, they have an awkward decision to make with your compensation. Money doesn't grow on trees, and temp labor gets paid for billable hours, not insurance reimbursements like staff at hospitals.

You should have investigated that psych assignment more carefully. Of course the agency is legally required to pay you for time worked, no reason to run. If the entire three month assignment paid enough, what do you care how the money is distributed? If they paid you minimum wage for orientation, and then a higher wage per hour for the rest of the assignment, versus an agency that paid a lower average hourly to compensate, for which agency would you be paid more? Overtime would be higher for one, and an extension would also pay higher.

But it is difficult sell to many travelers, even ones that can do the math. It is really the fault of vendor managers who use that to sell their services to a hospital, 15 hours or whatever off of hundreds of travelers per year looks like a lot of savings on paper. It is an effective rate drop, which would have been much simpler with just a rate drop and see if they can get qualified travelers.

[ButterflyRN90, ASN, RN]

You are not understanding. It is the hospital not paying the agency. If the agency is not getting paid for your time, they have an awkward decision to make with your compensation. Money doesn't grow on trees, and temp labor gets paid for billable hours, not insurance reimbursements like staff at hospitals.

You should have investigated that psych assignment more carefully. Of course the agency is legally required to pay you for time worked, no reason to run. If the entire three month assignment paid enough, what do you care how the money is distributed? If they paid you minimum wage for orientation, and then a higher wage per hour for the rest of the assignment, versus an agency that paid a lower average hourly to compensate, for which agency would you be paid more? Overtime would be higher for one, and an extension would also pay higher.

But it is difficult sell to many travelers, even ones that can do the math. It is really the fault of vendor managers who use that to sell their services to a hospital, 15 hours or whatever off of hundreds of travelers per year looks like a lot of savings on paper. It is an effective rate drop, which would have been much simpler with just a rate drop and see if they can get qualified travelers.

What agency? It was a private clinic. Time is not free and their pay for a nurse was $4 less than average. So: no pay orientation and $12/hr? Don't think so.

[NedRN]

This is a travel forum and I thought I was discussing the basis for traveler pay. Staff jobs have different mechanisms for exploiting employees.

[BonnieSc]

I'm also surprised that it's legal anywhere to not pay for orientation... I wonder if it's illegal in some states. Some places I've worked (as permanent staff) have been very strict about how employees can't perform any work unless they're clocked in--including things like attending meetings--and others would never consider paying for a nurse to attend a one-hour meeting. I just noticed a clause on my traveler contract I hadn't noticed before that says all orientation activities that take place before the date of the contract (including on-site training) is unpaid. No wonder the nurse manager seemed surprised when I presented a timesheet that included the hour I spent in HR signing the policy sheet, watching the video, getting my badge... but it was the first day of my contract, I had to pay for my lodging to be there when they wanted me--well within my rights. (And I did get paid for it.)

[ButterflyRN90, ASN, RN]

I'm also surprised that it's legal anywhere to not pay for orientation... I wonder if it's illegal in some states. Some places I've worked (as permanent staff) have been very strict about how employees can't perform any work unless they're clocked in--including things like attending meetings--and others would never consider paying for a nurse to attend a one-hour meeting. I just noticed a clause on my traveler contract I hadn't noticed before that says all orientation activities that take place before the date of the contract (including on-site training) is unpaid. No wonder the nurse manager seemed surprised when I presented a timesheet that included the hour I spent in HR signing the policy sheet, watching the video, getting my badge... but it was the first day of my contract, I had to pay for my lodging to be there when they wanted me--well within my rights. (And I did get paid for it.)

If the orientation was on a non business hours day, you volunteered to go, or if it was filling paperwork, then they are not required to pay. If it's mandatory, within normal business hours and requires time training then yes, it's illegal to not pay for the potential employee's orientation. At least in my state.

[Two4theroad]

NedRN, I think I'm finally getting the hang of looking at the ENTIRE compensation package to gauge how I'm doing. I've become more than satisfied with my hourly rate and benefits after understanding how to factor all of that in, mostly thanks to the time and effort you put in to explaining it! Thanks a bunch!

[NedRN]

No, it is not legal anywhere to require work post employment and not pay at least minimum wage per the law. Some employers may get away with it, but the real difference that can be confusing is that when you do competencies for an agency, that is actually a pre-employment requirement and they can require it and not pay. When a traveler goes to a hospital post employment, time worked must be paid, that is the law of the land everywhere. Some hospitals stretch it with competencies at home, but you can recover pay for those hours if you can prove that you were required to work them as a job requirement in a court of law (some law firms, especially in California, do very well specializing in recovering such time). Where it becomes awkward if the agency cannot bill for it per a business to business contract (which is perfectly legal anywhere).