Is it legal for hospitals to force Nurses to work without pay during crisis?

[jennyanydot]

Is it legal for a hospital to tell RNs after they have completed their shift that they cannot go home but must stay at the hospital but NOT get paid. Sounds like a hostage situation. How can this be legal.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

If they mandate anything, make them put it in writing, then go after them for pay.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

If we are stuck because of weather we are paid for all time worked, and paid an on-call wage for the hours off the clock. I work in a SNF with limited staff, they can't pull a nurse from a different floor if needed so staff stays put until a replacement arrives. Even in a pretty bad storm though people make it in somehow. It's pretty amazing the dedication our staff shows during these times.

[Jenni811, RN]

We had it happen once during a horrible storm with a tornado. Given it wasn't very long but we all had to stay an extra couple hours. I didn't want to drive in that terrible storm anyway. I was safe at the hospital. Anyway, we all got paid overtime for that 2 hours until the next shift could get there safely. They should pay you of your required to stay.

[OCNRN63, RN]

RNsRWe said:

Actually, I do. And have worked both private and government, none of the above making such a declaration. I suppose that it could be buried in the fine print, but I know I have worked storms in the private sector where we were absolutely ALLOWED to stay through, but not required. Same with government job now. I've never known mandations for hospital RNs....is it a NYS thing? Is it I just haven't worked for these kinds of places (that demand no one leave)? I don't know. Could be, of course. Can only comment on my own experiences during some pretty wild storms.

Seems to be just good judgement to NOT go out if you can help it, though! Like I said, I stayed at work just so I didn't have to worry if I could get back in.

I worked for a place where we were mandated to stay, slept on the floor of the conference room, no pay.

[toomuchbaloney]

My spouse worked in a critical care area of midwestern hospital during the "blizzard of 78" that they remember with awe. She was at end of her day shift when they began asking staff to stay on because highways etc were being closed. She had 4x4, lived in the country with animals that needed care and so she left. She made it home safely but was stuck there for the better part of a week because the could not get the roads opened with the blowing and drifting - even after the snow had stopped falling.

The facility called her multiple times to come back, they offered to come get her on a snow machine. She laughed at them. No, she wasn't fired, but that was back in the good ol' days.

It is interesting to me that your employer can REQUIRE you to remain on the campus but not pay you for that time and availability. It is a completely different thing than the employer recognizing that there is a state of emergency and then OFFERING a place of respite from the storm for employees.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

toomuchbaloney said:

My spouse worked in a critical care area of midwestern hospital during the "blizzard of 78" that they remember with awe. She was at end of her day shift when they began asking staff to stay on because highways etc were being closed. She had 4x4, lived in the country with animals that needed care and so she left. She made it home safely but was stuck there for the better part of a week because the could not get the roads opened with the blowing and drifting - even after the snow had stopped falling.

The facility called her multiple times to come back, they offered to come get her on a snow machine. She laughed at them. No, she wasn't fired, but that was back in the good ol' days.

It is interesting to me that your employer can REQUIRE you to remain on the campus but not pay you for that time and availability. It is a completely different thing than the employer recognizing that there is a state of emergency and then OFFERING a place of respite from the storm for employees.

They can require you to stay and to be available off the cluck during emergencies. I doubt if they can enforce it, but if you decided to risk the road conditions and leave anyway they sure could fire you.

About the dumbest snow policy my facility has is all staff are expected to be on-call during inclement weather. Sounds doable in theory, no? Well, reality is since they aren't paying us for on-call status we just don't answer the phone if they call if we don't intend to go in. There is no penalty for that as company policy doesn't allow us to work off the clock, and an on-call wage is clearly spelled out in the polices and procedures that would cover that situation. Nobody has tested this by actually answering their call and saying no that I am aware of.