Premium Pay for Extra Shifts?

[kerussll]

Hi everyone!

I'm wondering how your facility handles extra shifts. A few weeks ago, my unit was full to capacity so many people were signing up for overtime. Our facility is supposed to pay time and a half plus a bonus of $10 an hour for extra shifts people take when we are this busy (which we call premium pay)

I signed up for an extra shift on the schedule, wrote down "please call for premium pay shift." When the night came, they called me and said they didn't expect to need me, but I would be put on call just in case. They ended up calling me in at 2:30am. I just received my paycheck and saw that I only got time and a half (or regular call-in pay) for those hours. No $10 an hour bonus. Does this seem right to you? I was expecting to be paid premium pay for any hours I worked. After all, I signed up for premium pay and not just an extra call shift. It's not the biggest deal, since it would only be about $50 extra before taxes, but it rubbed me the wrong way. I emailed my manager to explain this, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. So I'm curious, how do you guys get paid for extra shifts or call-in shifts? Thanks!

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

We are paid time and a half for any hours over 40 for the pay week. No bonus.

I'm curious, is this bonus specified in a policy somewhere? If it isn't, I'd assume it's just given at the discretion of whoever does payroll. What distinguishes a premium pay shift from regular overtime? Are you allowed to specify that you will only come in if you get premium pay instead of regular overtime?

[kerussll]

I've looked through the hospital policies about on call and overtime shifts. Nowhere is the term "premium pay" mentioned anywhere, so I guess it's a unit policy? Everyone I work with seems pretty confused about it, since I've gotten a bunch of contradictory answers to all my questions depending on who I ask! Some say if you're put on call first, the premium pay is canceled. Others disagree. Some said if the census goes down enough, they no longer have to give premium pay. It's confusing! Hopefully my manager will just spell it out for me soon since the policies sure don't...

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

Depends on how busy they are. There is no list to call, they just cold call people and offer $10-15 over either your per diem rate or time and half if you are over 40 hrs.

I would wait until your manager gets back to you before you get your feathers ruffled. I find that when this happens there is usually just a clerical error made along the way and see the money in my next paycheck.