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Discussion

Is this illegal?

Hello. I would like to explain my issue. I was hired on call, and was working on call and full time whenever full-time employees could not work. Overall, I worked 6 out of 12 months full time. In the last 4 months of 2011, I was working full time because I was replacing another full time nurse who was on maternity leave.

Since the beginning on January, no one has called me. I called the nurse who I trusted, and she told me my name was taken off the schedule and my name and phone number was whited out from employees phone number list.

I called DON and asked what I should expect (I did not tell her info I knew), and she told me I was on call. When I asked if I can use her as a reference, she said yes.

Later, another employee told me that they hired the sister of a full-time employee full time and that the sister of an owner was given on call position.

I look for another job now and understand that my job at that nursing home is over. However, did any of you ever see something like this done to your fellow coworker? Is what they did not me legal? Please comment.

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    • Featured Replies

    I have seen it done, even policy changed to put an LPN in the ER because she was related to one of the ER nurses. And no, you have no recourse.

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    On call means exactly that. If they want or need you to work they will call you. If not, they don't call. There is no legal recourse just because they stop calling. Crappy, but not illegal.

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    • Experts

    That's the downside of on-call/per-diem/PRN: there's no promises. You can have shifts thrown at you non-stop or you can have nothing whatsoever for weeks on end. And if they don't call you, it's perfectly legal for them do so and you can't do anything about it, as most facilities will tell you from the start that as an on-call, you are not guaranteed hours.

    If you work on-call/PRN, unless you are prepared to ride out the draughts, I'd try to pick up gigs at least at two places--that way if shifts slow down at one you have another facility to fall back on.

    Best of luck on your new job!

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    Yes, it is perfectly legal. If you're hired "on call"/per diem it means simply that. They call you if they need you. They do not have to guarantee you shifts and they can decide to fill a full-time position and stop utilizing you at any time. This happens at my institution all the time. I don't remember the last time I saw a per diem nurse actually work a shift on the floor.

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    Of course it's legal. There is no guarantee for per-diem.

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    I don't understand what part of this you could possibly think is illegal.

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    • Author

    hello. i would like to explain my issue. i was hired on call, and was working on call and full time whenever full-time employees could not work. overall, i worked 6 out of 12 months full time. in the last 4 months of 2011, i was working full time because i was replacing another full time nurse who was on maternity leave.

    since the beginning on january, no one has called me. i called the nurse who i trusted, and she told me my name was taken off the schedule and my name and phone number was whited out from employees phone number list.

    i called don and asked what i should expect(i did not tell her info i knew), and she told me i was on call. when i asked if i can use her as a reference, she said yes.

    later, another employee told me that they hired the sister of a full-time employee full time and that the sister of an owner was given on call position.

    i look for another job now and understand that my job at that nursing home is over. however, did any of you ever see something like this done to your fellow coworker?

    did you ever see your fellow coworkers get terminated for no reason so that their job will be assigned to someone more close to employer? let me know.

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    That was pretty low. They should have told you that you were no longer working there.

    With an "on call" position you aren't guaranteed hours, so she probably saw that as her out to let you go and hire on someone else. But that was most definitely a passive aggressive way to do it. You may want to contact your state labor board just to see if they did something in the wrong.

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    people have already told you on your other thread.....it is what it is. I am per deim (same as on call) they just hired a person to do the job I have been doing full time. I will prob not get hours for a while because i now need to wait until someone goes on vacation. it is one of the bad things of per diem you are not garunteed hours (at most hospitals atleast) and you need to deal with it if you dont get any. I take it because I am a studnet and the flexibility of per diem is worth the not getting hours risk

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    Does not matter how many times you ask, when you're hired per diem, there's never a guarantee of hours. Why did you post the same question twice?

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    klone.....I think they did not like the answers they were getting on the other thread and were hoping to get the answer, i am sure, they wanted....that what was being done to them is totally illegal and that they can sue

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    I just got deja vu reading this. OP, on call is just that- on call. They call you if they need you to work and if you're on the schedule and they don't need you, you're the first one canceled. There is no guarantee that they will not hire a FT person and stop calling you nor do they have any obligation to you to NOT hire a FT person and to continue giving you hours.

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