No more on-call pay

[orvillsash]

so, the hospital i work for has implemented the following policy:

nurses can now be put "on-delay," meaning that the nurse is effectively put on call until 1100 or 2300 depending on the shift, and if the unit decides not to call you in, you're clear and have the rest of the night/day off. but, if they do call you in, you must come in and work the rest of the shift, but for regular pay (no on-call diff).

so, it amounts to being put on call, but instead of paying extra you actually end up making less for the shift since they're truncating it by 4 hours. also, it lets the hospital get away with not cancelling shifts, rather, since there's no consequence for calling someone in in the middle of the night, they can just put everyone on-delay and basically use them at will. so, not only do we not get the bonus on call pay, but we always have the specter of being called in hanging over our heads. although, to be fair, they are still, for the moment, outright cancelling some people when our census is exceptionally low.

does anyone else have any experience with a policy like this? as you might imagine, it's got some of the staff up in arms...some questioning the legality of such a policy, etc. i guess i'm just wondering how common this "on-delay" type of staffing is.

[AnonRNC]

Yep. Where I used to work, we were cancelled for four hours at a time - and we worked 12-hour shifts. You assumed that you should come in for the next 4-hr portion of the shift UNLESS you were called off, again. And again. And no one had cell phones then - tho many of us had pagers. That was a union job too.

My current contract does have a "late start"option, but it's not practiced on my unit.

[caliotter3]

I can understand this type of policy if one is a member of the armed forces, however, I don't see it in civilian life. Akin to slavery.

[mindlor]

Well,

First, I am fairly certain that you could contact the State/Federal agencies that regulate such things and they would find this to be illegal.

Short of that it sounds like you will need to find a new place to work.

Hospitals are in the power position right now and as a result they do not see the need to treat employees well....(I am sure there are exceptions....blah blah)

I will do my magical one year in hospital then its off to home health for me........that is where the future is my friends.....

Home Health

[Do-over, ASN, RN]

We are also "staffed" in 4 hour blocks, but all work 12s... Which sucks. So, we can be put on-call or low-census for 4 hours at a time (they never do it for the whole shift). We can also get floated every 4 hours.

We get a premium if called in, but it only lasts for the remainder of that 4 hour block.

I generally turn down O/C because it tends to annoy me far more than just going to work for my regular shift. Besides, they are plenty who seem to want it - with or without a diff.