Lost 15 yrs of Senority by changing departments

[Daytoe]

Our hospital policy is for RN's to keep seniority when changing departments. After 15 years in the ED I accepted a position in Interventional Radiology. It wasn't until 8 months of being there, (when it was time to bid on vacations and holidays based on seniority) was I told I am at the bottom of the seniority list. There are only eight of us nurses and I would be second from the top. I brought it up to my manager who said she would "look into it" but of course did nothing. What would you do? Do I push the subject and really upset my co-workers in a small department? Or do I just deal with it and be happy I got the job?

[DowntheRiver]

In my facility seniority applies to everything including vacation and scheduling. We are unionized and it is part of the contract. It does kind of suck at times but it's applied fairly across the board so most people don't complain.

I didn't think about Unions. Unions as far as nursing goes is a foreign concept in my neck of the woods. Good point!

[NurseBlaq]

I would take the policy back to the unit supervisor and ask her to define seniority, If she says all inclusive, make her honor it. If she says facility only, as in terms of benefits, etc., leave it alone. Regardless of how she explains it, ask for a written response so you can hold her to it, or use it for future use, shall this issue ever come up again.

[turtlesRcool]

You are lucky if you have a job that recognizes seniority; my hospital does not. It doesn't matter how long you've been here, they will cater to the new employees and not their loyal ones.

Could you clarify what you mean by catering to the new employees? Do the new employees get consistently preferential treatment or is your issue just that seniority is not used?

Something in your post rubs me the wrong way when you seem to separate nurses into "new" vs "loyal." There are new nurses who love their facilities and are extremely loyal, picking up extra shifts, staying late to cover, etc. Likewise, there are experienced nurses who work the bare minimum, trash talk the employer, etc. I don't think length of service translates directly into loyalty.

It's definitely a balancing act. Too much preference to one group or another is a bad thing. Presumably the facility wants to retain experienced nurses AND attract new ones. If you tell someone it might be years before he or she gets to spend Christmas with his/her family, that's going to lower morale and possibly lose you that employee.

My manager takes into account which holiday you worked last year, and usually alternates it the following year. So if you worked Christmas eve last year, you work Christmas Day this year. No one ever gets to the point where they can always have Christmas day off, but no one is stuck working the same major holiday several years in a row, unless they request it.

[Daytoe]

Exactly!! That is what I'm saying JKL33!!!

[Daytoe]

I would hope the various replies have clarified for the OP that it's possible s/he has misunderstood how/when seniority applies. It makes sense that someone who has spent a long time on the originally-hired unit might misunderstand this, since for that person the seniority on the unit and the seniority associated with length of service within the organization have accrued simultaneously such that the person never really has occasion to consider the two separately.

The OP would be very wise to get proper clarification on all of this before pressing the issue. If it turns out that overall length-of-service seniority applies to unit-based procedures like vacation bidding (which seems unlikely based on the replies), then asking one's seniority to be recognized appropriately is not "making demands" and is not a valid reason for coworkers to pick a bone with anyone but the employer.

At this point the OP is only being unreasonable if s/he knows that the two are separate and is making an issue out of it anyway. It didn't seem to me like that was the spirit with which the OP was written.

ETA: The OP has also specifically stated that part of the reason for the assumption is because that is what was directly witnessed in the OP's original department. Those who came into that department with longer lengths of service were allowed to bid according to their LOS.

Thank you! You are understanding what I am saying exactly!! And you are so correct!!

[Daytoe]

Are you still working for the Department of Nursing? Because in some hospitals, Interventional Radiology is Department of Surgery, or Department of Radiology. In my last hospital, transferring from the ICU to Interventional Radiology meant you were essentially resigning from the hospital and going to work for the university. You kept just enough seniority (about six months) not to have to be on probation.

My hospital is not like that at all. Nurses are all employed by the hospital. We are not connected with a university. That sounds foreign to me. I spoke with my previous manager today (because I still work in the ED per diem) and he could not believe I didn't keep my seniority. He gave me a person to contact to find out if IR can even do that. Its a place to start before I push any issues. This is obviously a sensitive topic as demonstrated by some of the responses on this thread.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Deleted

[DowntheRiver]

So what was the outcome?