Should prn get weekend or holiday diff???

Nurses General Nursing

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Can a hospital refuse to pay prn nurses weekend or holiday differential? Legally?

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In an employers market there are all kind of things they can legally do.

That time and a half holiday pay and extra $10/hr weekend pay are important to me. I would look around for a better offer at a different hospital if they were taken away.

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It's not illegal but if they want prn to staff to pick up those hours, they should.

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Specializes in Cardiac Stepdown, PCU.

Not illegal. Employers don't even have to pay you differential or holiday pay. I think it would depend on the facility tho. At my facility per diem do not get differential or holiday pay. They are paid at a rate much higher than a full or part time employed RN though. I think they start at like an equiv of time and a half. They are required to work 2 shifts a month, as well as one weekend shift a month, and 2 holidays a year. They get to pick which.

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Can a hospital refuse to pay prn nurses weekend or holiday differential? Legally?

Yes. PRN nurses often do not reap all of the benefits regular, full-time employees do.

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Specializes in Pedi.

There's no law that requires shift differentials in the first place so yes, of course they can do this. They can also take away these differentials for regular staff if they so choose.

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When I was PRN I got the weekend/shift differential, but my hourly wage was only $2 more per hour than I was making staff and my benefits were taken away...but aside from requiring two weekend shifts a month and one holiday per year I got to make my schedule so it was worth it for me.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Can a hospital refuse to pay prn nurses weekend or holiday differential? Legally?

Yes. Legally.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

Yes, it is not uncommon for Per Diem jobs to not offer the same benefits as an FTE position. It's pretty normal in the region I work that hospitals / other employers offer a higher hourly base pay but no benefits -- including things like holiday pay -- to Per Diem staff. My own employer offers pro-rated benefits to Per Diems who agree to work at least 24 hours per week, but most chose the lower contractual obligation (2 shifts/month) and no benefits for the schedule flexibility. Per diems do receive standard shift differentials where I work. We (all RNs) don't have weekend differentials with my employer.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Can a hospital refuse to pay prn nurses weekend or holiday differential? Legally?

Yes, it's legal.

In fact, it's also legal to pay PRNs the same hourly rate as FT/PT employees instead of giving them a little higher hourly rate for being PRN. It's also legal not to offer PRNs benefits even if they accrue 20-40 hours a week or more.

Now whether doing this will get PRNs flocking to work for this hospital is another story.

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Specializes in hospice, LTC, public health, occupational health.

The whole point of PRN, from the nurse's perspective, is the flexibility to choose when you want to work and not have to get approval for vacation, etc. You also get paid a higher hourly wage than regular employees. So, no, I don't think you need any differentials for working nights or weekends since you are literally choosing your own schedule.

If you want the benefits of full time employment, then go get a full time job.

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Of course they can!

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