OT for Time, Love or Money???

Nurses General Nursing

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I am wondering if hospitals do this for those working overtime? It is very common in the fire departments and I thought it was a great idea as someone who values their vacation time over making a bit more money. It may also be a way to keep from going into the next tax bracket.

If you are not familiar with this, it works like this.

TIME:

you work OT for vacation time, 1.5 days vacation for 1 day of overtime

LOVE:

you work a direct shift trade with someone and no change in pay etc.

MONEY:

This is the traditional OT where you get paid your OT $$ for working the shift

Just curious if this is a thing in the nursing profession or not.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

If it's a direct shift swap, it wouldn't be OT. Our nurses do that all the time.

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Yes, that is called LOVE: above, as I noted, no change in pay, call it a trade or whatever, but I included it because that is what the terminology is when the FD uses it.

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Specializes in NICU.

I am confused. Are you saying that if I come to work for OT that I would not be paid for that day? Instead I would get 18 hrs of vacation time? if that is the case then I would rather have the money in hand than hrs in the bank. I generate more vacation time than I use per year and need to be paid out 100 hrs evry yr to avoid being capped out and not earn any more until I burn vacation time below the cap. If we had an unlimited vacation accrual then it might be worth it. The vacation time becomes more valuable with each raise.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
I am confused. Are you saying that if I come to work for OT that I would not be paid for that day? Instead I would get 18 hrs of vacation time? QUOTE]

Not sure, but I think you get paid straight time, plus 18 hours of PTO.

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So, I would work an extra shift a week for a straight trade later? For OT? Ummm, no. We trade straight shifts all the time. Not working OT for nothing.

When I work OT, I want paid for it and paid well. I wait for the bonus shifts. Nursing is exhausting and if I'm expending the energy for an extra shift, it better be worth it for my family.

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I am confused. Are you saying that if I come to work for OT that I would not be paid for that day? Instead I would get 18 hrs of vacation time? if that is the case then I would rather have the money in hand than hrs in the bank. I generate more vacation time than I use per year and need to be paid out 100 hrs evry yr to avoid being capped out and not earn any more until I burn vacation time below the cap. If we had an unlimited vacation accrual then it might be worth it. The vacation time becomes more valuable with each raise.

This. And when we cash out our PTO it's only worth a certain percentage amount. They really like us to try and take our PTO which I get. You need a mental break every once in a while.

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Interesting responses, I was asking if any hospitals do offer this, not if you guys like the idea or not, I have 2 elementary age kids, If i could earn enough vacation(not being capped) to take a significant portion of their school vacations off each year, I would be very happy. I would work 12 hrs on an OT shift and earn 18 hours of paid vacation time. You still get the money but in the form of vacation pay. 1 week of vacation is BS here is the USA, IMHO of course. Many other countries, you start with 2 or more weeks vacation and build on that rapidly to have 6, 8 or more paid vacations days. I understand many people value money above everything else, I value time with my family, traveling, and doing things I enjoy over money, as long as I have enough to pay for said activities I am fine.

Maybe you also missed that you can choose to take it for time off or for OT pay based on your personal preference

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Specializes in ICU, trauma.

We get over time pay....plus our PTO is based on how many hours worked...so you would also get extra pto plus extra shift pay

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Specializes in OB.
Interesting responses, I was asking if any hospitals do offer this, not if you guys like the idea or not, I have 2 elementary age kids, If i could earn enough vacation(not being capped) to take a significant portion of their school vacations off each year, I would be very happy. I would work 12 hrs on an OT shift and earn 18 hours of paid vacation time. You still get the money but in the form of vacation pay. 1 week of vacation is BS here is the USA, IMHO of course. Many other countries, you start with 2 or more weeks vacation and build on that rapidly to have 6, 8 or more paid vacations days. I understand many people value money above everything else, I value time with my family, traveling, and doing things I enjoy over money, as long as I have enough to pay for said activities I am fine.

Maybe you also missed that you can choose to take it for time off or for OT pay based on your personal preference

I get what you're asking, but I've never heard of a hospital doing this. However, I've only ever worked at two hospitals in the same city, so my experience is not that broad.

As a nursing student, which I see from your profile you are, if you're under the impression that as a new nurse on a typical inpatient unit, you will be able to take off many weeks at a time in the summer when your kids are off, I think you should know that's not realistic. Most units grant vacation by seniority, and generally speaking the summer months are snapped up pretty quickly. Additionally, most places have a cap on how many weeks at a time you can take off, the most common that I've seen being two.

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Specializes in General Internal Medicine, ICU.

OT time at my work can either be paid out in the next paycheque, or you can bank the hours and request for a day off later. Most people choose the cash option. As for vacations, you start accruing vacation hours during your first year, so you can start using them in your second year of work.

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Interesting responses, I was asking if any hospitals do offer this, not if you guys like the idea or not, I have 2 elementary age kids, If i could earn enough vacation(not being capped) to take a significant portion of their school vacations off each year, I would be very happy. I would work 12 hrs on an OT shift and earn 18 hours of paid vacation time.

Prepare to be very unhappy. The likelihood of this happening is slim to none and slim just left. This is prime time vacation and you will be lucky to get a week maybe ten days. The only way you could possibly do this is to go per diem.

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