I need help- Do I have rights?

You have a written job description, and, one would think, some kind of written offer of employment for that job. You have been working at it for four months, and you have been paid for it, presumably. Have you had any periodic performance reviews indicating that you have actually been doing that job, your checklist signed off by a supervisor, etc.? Were you rated as staff nurse, middle management, or...?

Out of the clear blue sky they reassigned you to a totally different job for which you are not qualified. Does your written job description or employee handbook say they can do that?

If not, I am thinking that they decided not to have that position anymore, and they know if they lay you off they will have to pay your work comp, so they think that if they push you into something you are not qualified for and didn't sign up for, you'll quit and they won't have to pay you for that.

So I would march into the HR department with a nice polite letter saying you would like to have your employment offer honored as per your job offer of (DATE), with a cc to your manager/direct report, and department head. They will probably give you some mumblemumble.

Then ask if the position is being terminated so you can apply for unemployment benefits. NEVER sign anything on the spot-- get a copy to take home and review if they ask you to. If your facility is unionized, go directly to your union rep. If your facility is unionized and you are not part of the union, then consider looking up a good employment specialist attorney (and extra points if you get one thru TAANA, The American Assoc of Nurse Attorneys.

And start looking for another job immediately.

Let us know what happens!

I would call and consult a lawyer. Things like this happens a lot. To be honest, the easiest thing is to find another job.

What does you job description say? Typically, you get hired not strictly as an "admission coordinator" but as a "Nurse", who might be hired with the role of "admission coordinator" in mind, but not limited to that. Employers often make sure the description leaves the door open for assigning you to other tasks.

A number of fine print job description language state not only who you report to, but "and other duties as assigned by"...who you report to. Unfortunetely, this would fall under the "other duties" category. There's also some language pertaining to "and other hours" or "could rotate" or some other blah, blah about the fact the facility can change your hours as they see fit.

With that being said, since you were hired as an Admissions Coordinator, in my opinion, the facility needs to lay you off from that position, eliminate the position, whatever it is that they are going to do with that position, and then give you a choice. A severence package, the opportunity to apply for other positions within the facility, or collect unemployment. And I would speak to your union rep about this.

Further, and more unfortunetely, the facility is now in a position where they could call your insubordinate should you decline to do as they ask, they could leave you as the Admission's Coordinator and state that you are "not doing your job" (through no fault of your own) or trump up some stuff about patient's at risk due to you not working to the scope of your licesnse. Or trump up just about anything. And they could also claim an amnesia attack and don't have one CLUE how you are in possession of the job description--which is "old" or "not approved" or some other something...

Seems they want the ball in your court so that you can quit (and without notice a mark on your employment record) or they want you to screw up so they can let you go in the best fashion as to not pay unemployment. Oh, and perhaps they would be so inclined to have you do staff nursing and as part of your duties, admissions. Perhaps the pay is less as well.

This goes on every single day and is very disheartening. Go to your union, or to your attorney.

Yes, they can change our hours, work duties, etc. but usually there is a 30 day notification before having to make the change. Never heard of it being a one day notice.

Thank you everyone for all the information and suggestions.

I believe that the PP (30 day notification) may have been referring to the WARN Act.. http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-warn.htm but that does not apply unless the employer's actions are affecting a large number of people.

Situations like this are just infuriating... Those of us who occupy "one of" jobs are most at risk for these types of shennanigans. BTDT twice in educator positions. But individual employees have very little recourse. Most states, mine included, will not even pay unemployment if the individual was offered a similar job but refused to take it.