Unpaid Mandatory Meetings?

[BiohazardBetty]

The organization I work for has started making our morning "huddles" mandatory for each unit. In case you aren't familiar, it's where the charge nurse tells us a little about what to expect that day like pts with anticipated discharges or if a patient has blood or chemo ordered... They can be really beneficial or a complete waste of time, depending.

Most units have their huddles after they get report so the nurse knows more about the patient and can add to the info the charge shares. My unit, however, has them at 6:40, which is 5 minutes before you are required to clock in, & consequently, you are not paid for this 'mandatory' meeting.

Yes, it's only 5 minutes, but here's the thing- now our annual raises are based on several different factors, having 95% attendance at huddles is one of them. EVERYONE has to be there for the unit to meet the goal. One person missed today so, the whole unit's score for today is only around 80%. Yesterday 3 people missed so our unit's score was even lower. BUT, none of those people were late clocking in.

Can we really make anything mandatory before the time you are required to clock in? Wouldn't we be required to pay people to be in a mandatory meeting at any time? I want to be upset with the people who've missed, but I can't really justify being mad when they came to work on time & just didn't show up to a 5 minute meeting for free.

What are your thoughts??

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

A 95 percent compliance rate provides a very narrow window, which is on purpose. Then, management can say, "Close, but you haven't met expectations. Sorry, no raises."

[Eru Ilúvatar]

I could treat it like a grocery store fall then, which could be more lucrative and timely than WC.

And if the huddles turned out to be obviously beneficial I would campaign for making them a regular part of beginning a shift.

I never said I wouldn't expect to be paid but I wouldn't go about it by refusing to attend but rather by promotion of its value.

It wont work the same way... You have no reason to be on the floor if it wasn't for your work duties. A fall on the parking lot maybe, i still see it hard happening. If suing for falls in a hospital were that easy, patients that fall would be rich by the time they leave.

Still it doesn't rebuts my point that you should be clocked in as soon as any work duty begins. If you wanna give your time for free, there is plenty of volunteer organizations that could use your time much more.

[Wrench Party]

I don't do ANYTHING off the clock on the unit, save put my bags down and find my badge. I have no interest in working for free.

What if something happens during huddle like a code and you are expected to go attend to it? I wouldn't want to know the legal headache that may cause.

[paidmydues]

This would not fly in a unionized environment. Appropriately stand together and refuse to do huddle until 0645 or get paid 5 minutes for clocking in early. I find that management will play games like this with nurses until we feel like Pavlov's dogs and we become desensitized to all the silliness. If I am a professional I quietly and firmly and appropriately must be treated like one. I left nursing in 1980 to become a flight attendant. I was treated better with the airlines. I returned to nursing 10 years ago and am aghast and mortified at how management and administration treat us like recalcitrant children...because we let them! One Itty bitty word should make a heap of difference, especially in MS: UNION! Goodluck.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I think the problem here is that the staff can punch in, so they would be on the clock, they just won't be paid, because this institution is not using the 7 minute rule. As long as the staff punches in later than 0630, they don't get paid for the minutes up to 0645.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Unpaid mandatory work (slavery) has been illegal since 1865. Any required attendance requires compensation for non-salaried employees.

My part time job has "mandatory" unpaid meetings as well. I haven't attended a single one that did not occur on a shift that I was already scheduled for. They can last up to 2 hours! I'm sorry, but if I'm not getting paid I'm not coming in. There are several of us that feel this way and nothing has yet to happen. Let them try to dock my raise or pay for not attending. I'd be talking to a lawyer about the legalities of that.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I think the problem here is that the staff can punch in, so they would be on the clock, they just won't be paid, because this institution is not using the 7 minute rule. As long as the staff punches in later than 0630, they don't get paid for the minutes up to 0645.

I'm getting it that they institution IS using the 7 minute rule, and is trying to use it to their advantage, telliing people they HAVE to clock in 7 minutes early (or 5 minutes, as the case may be) in order to attend this huddle, but they facility doesn't have to pay them any extra above and beyond. So, their shift starts at 0645. But as long as they clock in AFTER 0637, they're not being paid any extra, because the clock-in rounds up to 0645 for pay purposes. But they're having a mandatory meeting at 0640.

I say that's very sneaky and sly of the facility to do this. Technically they're not making them work off the clock. They're telling them to clock in before this huddle. But they're not paying them extra because of the 7-minute rule.

So no labor laws are broken, but I would say that their employment agreement is broken. If they were hired to work 0645 to 1915 (or whatever) and that's what's written in their agreement, then they can't just change it and say they're now changing the start time. I think that's the tactic I would use. It's just ******, though. Why affect employee morale in this way over 5 freakin' minutes? Just do the GD huddle at 0645!!

[kakamegamama]

For the posters who state that they'd contact a lawyer, not show up, or whatever for unpaid mandatory meetings, fine. However, it would be a great idea to know what the labor laws say. IF your agency is in violation, then you have a legal basis on which to stand. If they are not, then there really isn't anything you can do. Inform yourselves. Do research to know what the law actually says. THAT will give you ammunition when/if you choose to fight that battle. (Been there, done that on a different matter. But, having legal background information, provided enough "oomph" to my case that a policy was changed.). Document what the Labor Laws say. That works better than complaining without being willing to take the steps to fix the issue. If your agency refuses to change the policy, then it is on them should there be an audit, or a Labor Board complaint filed against them. Effecting change takes effort. Most of the time, management will turn a deaf ear to complaints without substance/proof/that appears to be a pity party.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

5 min * 3 days a week * 52 weeks = 13 hours unpaid

Would you like to work a mandatory unpaid shift every year?

Yes, it is illegal.

You are required to clock in between 631 & 645, but you are not actually paid until 645, which is when the shift is considered to begin. If we were to clock in before 631, the organization would be required to pay us for that 15 minutes from 630-645.

If you clock in at 631 and they don't pay you for 14 minutes, that is a violation of federal wage laws.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Are you part of a union? Honestly I would reach out to your union rep if you have one.

Since the OP's location is Mississippi per the profile, I can guarantee (s)he works for a nonunion facility. People in the Southern states seem to have a deeply embedded antipathy toward unionization that has persisted for many generations.

Hence, employers often get away with illegal tactics such as requiring nonexempt hourly workers to come to meetings for free, off the clock. There's also a reason many Southern hospitals are renowned for low pay and deplorable working conditions.

[Nurse Leigh]

Since the OP's location is Mississippi per the profile, I can guarantee (s)he works for a nonunion facility. People in the Southern states seem to have a deeply embedded antipathy toward unionization that has persisted for many generations.

Hence, employers often get away with illegal tactics such as requiring nonexempt hourly workers to come to meetings for free, off the clock. There's also a reason many Southern hospitals are renowned for low pay and deplorable working conditions.

Of course this could also be said of many places in the Midwest as well. Such a shame we can't come together and demand better for ourselves. Hey, if I'd won the lottery last week, I could have definitely made increased unionization among hospitals one of my goals. But alas.... *sigh*

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

Nurses have so much power that goes un-utilized.

If the nurses on your unit decided that NONE of you were going to go to this huddle until management changed it to after report, it would be kind of hard to ignore that united voice.