Is it true that guaranteed hours are not offered very often?
Two recruiters I talked to said hospitals are not commonly offering guaranteed hours.
I wanted my recruiters to be able to guarantee that I get 36hours a week or at least 60hours in two weeks.
(They can call me off one in two weeks). One hospital contract with the agency states they can call me off one 12hr a week... My recruiter keeps telling me I shouldn't be worried but I am cause I've read these forums about shortened hours. And I want my full pay.
Am I expecting too much out of the contract and should I just take 1 call out a week?
You probably would have to sue for shifts called off. But it costs nothing to ask the agency to pay you per the contract. It wasn't your fault that the hours were not billed, that is up to the agency. If they didn't reflect the hospital contract language in your contract, that is their bad, not yours.
Getting called off means you don't work scheduled hours. Going home on call means you have to come in if called. Often that is an option for staff (and travelers) to do on a voluntary basis, and happens involuntarily as well. You get paid call pay for those hours at whatever rate, but usually that pay stops if you get called back in. You should get time and a half if you are called back in for those hours you work.
You are best off working for honest recruiters who can tell you how it works, honest agencies that put stuff in writing, honest hospitals that hire travelers to work, not just hang around for free in case the census goes up. No point in working with a recruiter or agency who is dishonest again, but not much you can do about the hospital. If getting hours is important to you, discuss it in the interview with the manager and hope she is being straight with you. You might want to consider rapid response assignments, especially if you like overtime. You shouldn't miss hours on those, and be glad for time off instead!
Ned I'm not shooting myself in the foot to be put on call vs called off am I? They want me On call in case things pick up. I work OB which is typically very busy or very slow lol.
I'm not sure. I have heard of agencies claiming that you didn't miss any hours because you were on call. That is quite a load! But if you are talking about personal time, yes, you can't go out drinking on call, or get farther than 30 minutes away (whatever their policy is). For OR nurses who spend quite a bit of their life on call, it is not worth it. That even applies in the San Francisco Bay area where staff call pay is half regular pay. Can you imagine getting paid $30 an hour to carry the pager? Well, it gets old after 20 years or so.
I only sign contracts with a guarantee of 48 hours a week. Although I did run into one company that had a loophole I wasn't aware of where they could call you off twice during your 13 week contract. This was hidden in fine print and not openly discussed with the recruiter. Although when you work 48 hours weekly even if they call you off twice you will just have two weeks of your contract that don't have overtime pay. Because you still meet your full time hour requirements you get the same stipend amount. Problem solved.
I only sign contracts with a guarantee of 48 hours a week. Although I did run into one company that had a loophole I wasn't aware of where they could call you off twice during your 13 week contract. This was hidden in fine print and not openly discussed with the recruiter. Although when you work 48 hours weekly even if they call you off twice you will just have two weeks of your contract that don't have overtime pay. Because you still meet your full time hour requirements you get the same stipend amount. Problem solved.
And this is one reason, when I still worked in a hospital, that we loathed contracted agency nurses. They got their hours at the expense of the nurses who were hourly employees of the hospital and lost pay due to being called off for low census.
Well Obviously the staff is unable to pick up the extra hours and that's why they hired a travel nurse? Staff nurses at least get PTO and can still get paid their full salary...travel nurses get nothing?
As I see it...since I did Not agree or sign Any contract that stated I could be put on call any amount of times that I'm not held to that contract. That's between the hospital and the company. My contract says I will work 36-40 hrs a week.
So they (travel company) finally got back to me just now via voicemail. They said the contract says the hospital can cancel me twice a month. She said to let them know when I get the call offs and if it's more than the 2 they'll "take care of me"
Not sure what that means.
So my contract says nothing about this. I don't understand why there are two contracts and why I wasn't made Fully aware of this Before I signed my contract. And am I bound to this since I did not see this contract.
Who here know what sort of lawyer to contact about this?
There are always two contracts. I'm not sure what you want a lawyer to tell you. From an agreement standpoint, you've agreed to do this assignment. Your agency has since modified your contract by telling you that they will not pay you for the first two call offs. As they are now in breach of the original contract, you are free to bail or continue under the modified terms.
So...after Much pursuing...was told by my travel recruitor that the hospital can cancel me once a pay period...or once every two weeks. I still don't have this in writing. They said to let them know if I'm cancelled more than that, and they'll "take care of me" what? I got no answer as to what that means.
So I had a convo with the NM at the job and told her I could only be cancelled twice a month. She said Oh no! That isn't right.
Then she quoted North Carolina, South Carolina Hospital Association. I don't know what that has to do with anything.
So now I don't know what to do.
I feel I've been lied to.
And I can't afford to only work 5 shifts every two weeks instead of 6.
I have not said anything to the recruitor about my conversation ..
NedRN
1 Article; 5,785 Posts
You probably would have to sue for shifts called off. But it costs nothing to ask the agency to pay you per the contract. It wasn't your fault that the hours were not billed, that is up to the agency. If they didn't reflect the hospital contract language in your contract, that is their bad, not yours.
Getting called off means you don't work scheduled hours. Going home on call means you have to come in if called. Often that is an option for staff (and travelers) to do on a voluntary basis, and happens involuntarily as well. You get paid call pay for those hours at whatever rate, but usually that pay stops if you get called back in. You should get time and a half if you are called back in for those hours you work.
You are best off working for honest recruiters who can tell you how it works, honest agencies that put stuff in writing, honest hospitals that hire travelers to work, not just hang around for free in case the census goes up. No point in working with a recruiter or agency who is dishonest again, but not much you can do about the hospital. If getting hours is important to you, discuss it in the interview with the manager and hope she is being straight with you. You might want to consider rapid response assignments, especially if you like overtime. You shouldn't miss hours on those, and be glad for time off instead!