I Don't Want Benefits!

[gypsyBSNRN]

I am going to call my hosptial's HR tomorrow, but was just wondering if any of you know of the legalities of hours worked and benefits.

I work PRN for a hospital and was told that I am no longer allowed to work more than 20 hours per week as I would then be considered part-time and they would have to provide me benefits. Usually I work full-time hours while still being PRN because our hospital is in such need of nurses.

I have no interest in benefits or being considered part-time/full-time as I would no longer have control over my work schedule. Is there a new federal mandate in place where PRN nurses cannot work more than a set amount of hours?

Thank you for any info!

[guest769224]

I work 50+ hours a week as a per diem nurse. My employer is OK with it, even with the OT accrued because they have so many needs.

It could just be a bluff by your individual employer. They may not enforce that.

[Sour Lemon]

I work PRN and have never heard that. I rarely exceed 20 hours, but they sure do call and try to get me to. This could vary by state, though ...I think.

[JKL33]

I'm guessing this is based on their understanding of the "shared responsibility" provision of the ACA (not saying their interpretation is right or wrong, just that it probably has something to do with this):

Basic Information

Under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions, certain employers (called applicable large employers or ALEs) must either offer minimum essential coverage that is "affordable" and that provides "minimum value" to their full-time employees (and their dependents), or potentially make an employer shared responsibility payment to the IRS. The employer shared responsibility provisions are sometimes referred to as "the employer mandate" or "the pay or play provisions." The vast majority of employers will fall below the ALE threshold number of employees and, therefore, will not be subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions.

Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions | Internal Revenue Service

[JKL33]

....I believe it is a misunderstanding of the law and a failure to recognize that the per diem employee should be considered a "variable hours" employee. By the way, this determination is based on the employee's status *on the date of hire.* Seems to me like that's a crucial part. No per diem employee is, at the date of hire, hired to work FT hours. The fact that they may end up doing so is not what makes the determination as far as what I've read.

[Guest219794]

I am in the same position, and am pretty sure my employer is ignorant of the law, which works great for me.

Obamacare Mandate: Anyone Who Works 3

[vanilla bean]

In Hawaii, employers are required to offer health insurance to employees working 20 hours or more per week (with some exceptions). Many of the call-ins I worked with made sure to work at least 20 hours per week so they were eligible for health insurance, but still had the flexibility of being a call-in. My former employer did not limit the hours of call-ins to circumvent this legal requirement, which it sounds like might be the issue with OP's employer.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

There should be a benefits waiver you can sign. You will have to pinky swear you have health insurance from somewhere else. I do this yearly and to my knowledge nobody's ever attempted to validate that I do.