Forced canceling/calling off question!

I guess I don't expect answers regarding unemployment unless you have a personal experience...but do your facilities mandate cancellations like this?

Thanks for your help!

If your facility is like most then you should be on probation for a period of time once you are off orientation. During this period you probably are entitled to nothing. And if you are a new employee from outside the institution, you also have the misfortune of not having any PTO to cover those days that you get cancelled. At this point I would consider looking for another job because this situation to me would be unacceptable.

Where I work, people sign up as volunteers to get an EA (excused absence) if someone needs to be cancelled. There are always people signed up so it has never been a problem. On the very rare occasion that nobody wanted and EA and we were over, our manager didn't force anyone to take a cancellation and just ate it for the shift.

Your facility has to follow federal and state guidelines, then union contracts if any, and then their own policies. I am more in favor of EVERYONE taking turns with cancellations, regardless of seniority. Otherwise, you might lose the new people. You need to get a copy of the policy from HR. As for unemployment, that would be under the state guidelines, so you would need to ask HR about it and/or the unemployment office. Another option, once you are out of orientation, is to orient to another dept. I had this problem when I worked Pedi, because summer was low census. I crosstrained to ER and was able to pick up shifts there.

You may want to sign up with a staffing agency where you could possibly pick up shifts to make up for being cancelled from your primary job. How much notice do you get when you are cancelled?

Are you PT or FT? If you're fulltime, I dont think you need to worry - they don't cancel FT staff. (At least, they don't at my hospital)

If you're PT, you probably will get cancelled more until you've built up seniority. As others have said, maybe look into a second job if it starts happening a lot, just to supplement your income?

Despite seniority, mandated cancellations should rotate.

Has anyone in management said why they have recently hired so many if it puts them so overstaffed? Are they expecting several nurses to retire soon/ travelers to complete contracts soon? It seems strange that they should hire to be overstaffed. I would be concerned if I were an older experienced nurse that a forced retirement" was in the offing. I've seen this happen to others as a way to cut staffing costs.

FLArn, depending on where you are in the country hospital stays are down 1-10% from historical numbers. If they hired based on historical data this could be the cause of the overage and now management is trying to adapt.

You need to check with your state's employment commission about unemployment. The rules vary from state to state but I do know in some you can receive UI for excessive numbers of call offs or send homes. That's one reason most facilities rotate the call offs or pay employees a token wage for being on call when they are told not to come in.

when I was on probation, I actually wasn't allowed to get cancelled or put on call. That only happened after I went through my 90-day period. We rotate through cancellations/being put on-call. Doesn't matter if you've been there for years or brand spanking new, if it's your turn then then it's your turn. Typically the PRNs/OT's are first to be considered, then the PT/FT's.

I have a BIG problem with this and it's one reason I'm employed as a traveler anymore.

(They don't send ME home unless they are locking up the building after EVERYONE else is gone. My hours are contracted. They can send me home but I still get paid!)

If I'm hired into a 36 or 40 hour/week position. I EXPECT to work 36-40 hours. My bills, expenses, and lifestyle depends on those hours as income. If I'm short then it sometimes means I'm gonna be hurtin' when it comes time to pay bills.

Next beef is that they force you to take hours out of your vacation time to fill the hours called off. Nope!, No Way! Not happening! That is my VACATION time and I will not sacrifice my vacation later because your census is low.

They budgeted the FTE's. I USE 'EM! Even while I was charge there was pressure to send people home. I wouldn't do it. I asked for volunteers first and then that was it. No one wanted to leave, so be it. Not my problem.

I'm not a slave to the cost-cutting measures that short the staff nurse wages and vacation time to justify huge bonuses to the corporate yahoos at the end of the year.

Rant off...