legal question about off duty mandatory meetings

nursemaa · May 3, 2006

Hmm...seems strange that they would only hold one meeting, and penalize those who are on sick leave or vacation, or may not know about it. Are you sure you didn't misunderstand? I've known of places that marked you down on evals or something if you didn't complete mandatory activities, but have never heard of a penalty as severe as 3 days suspension without pay.

Ideally, a meeting like this should be scheduled more than once, and at different times of the day...but if you have many employees (I have 65) working a variety of shifts and days, it's tough to do. So you end up having the meeting a couple of times and try to get as many staff there as possible.

Mandatory things should be available in a variety of formats, like "read and sign" packets, online, and face-to-face meetings.

Gabie Baby · May 3, 2006

I'm not a lawyer but I agree that a mandatory meeting must be made known to all, must be paid for (including travel time in both directions, since a lot of people spend a lot of time in traveling to and from work), must allow for exceptions for sickness, days off, and other [erfectly legitimate reasons. Here's what I would do - go to the boss now and tell her I will not be able to come in because it is going to be my day off and I have a couple of appointments made. If she wants to give me a different day off, tell me now so I can reschedule my appointments. If not, she can give me the meeting topics now so I am sure to get them.

You could also wait until the day of the meeting then call and say you have no sitter, if you have young kids, or you're sick. Or call after the fact and make some excuse. I guess you could always say you forgot, since it was your day off and you were busy with so many other things.

I once attended a church service in which the guest minister said that the ushers were to lock the doors and not let anyone out until the minister said it was ok. Well, that is called false imprisonment. I had to pee in the worst way. I was really afraid I'd wet my pants and was fighting back waves of urgency and lots of pressure. I knew I was about to got involuntarily so I went to the door and told the usher it was urgent. He didn't want to let me out so I told him I was honestly about to flood the floor and that, if he didn't let me out, I'd sue for false imprisonment. He let me out - reluctantly. I haven't gone back to church since. Just another example of how ridiculous things get sometimes and your boss' decree reminded me of this example.

SharonH, RN · May 3, 2006

They cannot require you to come in without pay, but if they are paying you for that time then YES they can make it mandatory. I was terminated for failure to attend a mandatory meeting although I was sick.

CHATSDALE · May 3, 2006

all meetings are on their time...they can require you to come in but most facilities will give some leeway such as allowing you to miss a couple in a years time

they also make it better for you to come in such as paydays scheduled for the day after but checks are given to those who attend meetings

they are stricter witht the cnas because the state requires that they receive a certain amount of inservice hours

nurses can arrange CE in different locales, on line, at a different facility etc

of course meetings that affect the procedures at a specific should be attended but they should also be made available at different times

Cheyenne RN,BSHS · May 5, 2006

i am not sure what prompted the meeting. the letter was sent on our work computer e-mail system to all the nursing employees.

there is even a button you have to hit to read some of these letters so that there is proof that you have received that communication...which can catch you if you have no idea what you may have just legally provided proof for "knowing" and "reading."

i rarely, if ever, have time to sit and read emails at home. forget reading emails at work. i have several hundred still unread. i have told management never to count on me reading any emails because from the moment i clock in until i leave and clock out, my first and only priority is taking care of my patients.

i never take lunch breaks, not once in three plus years at this place. the short time they give anyone for a meal leaves your patients without their meds being given, iv's beeping unattended, and their finger sticks and insulin's are due at the time the patients get their food tray.

teamwork is really the pits at this particular place ... the worse i have run into, and if your not working with the right group on a particular day then you are just pooty out of luck. you are on your own. the patient care assistants don't even work together even if a patient is a two-person total care patient.

part of the disharmony is due to a large old local hospital that was closed down right when i moved to this area. the hospital became a children's hospital and the nurses and staff not pediatric trained or wanting to learn pediatrics, were sent to the remaining two large competitive hospitals for this area.

tension was very high once everyone who had a job and wanted to still work got plugged in and working at one place or the other. when i started work i could tell easily by the "clicks" who had always worked there and the ones who felt that they "dumped here after 20 years over there nurses"

i do take 15 minute breaks and carry my in hospital assigned phone with me so that my patients and the doctors can immediately reach me and i will leave my break and go do the task.

here is how the letter read that a friend copied off her email at work for me.

a mandatory staff meeting will be held on may 8th. everyone must attend one of the sessions/ they will be held at 0730 am and 5 pm, location tba. you will receive a three day suspension, without pay, for not attending as we are covering some very important issues.

doesn't leave any room for sickness, other jobs, or an alternative way to get the information. it is my only day off in the middle of a five day stretch of 12 hours shifts.

i need that day off down time. the stress at work lately with management increasing patient loads and nurse patient ratios getting worse is unbelievable. i feel overwhelmed. i don't care if they pay us to come in, i value my mental and physical health more. if i am not at my best, i can't be the best nurse for any patient and i just feel worn down.:uhoh21: