Mandating to work on days off

[amk7223]

Hi all!

Just wanted some feedback. I started a new position where they mandate you to work about a week in advance if they cannot get anyone to fill the hole. The problem is a bunch of people are quitting (I wonder why) and the holes are huge in the next coming months. I already work every other weekend (weekends are alot of the holes) and do not want to work any more weekends. I am now afraid to plan anything because I am the new person who will be most likely mandated to work. I have been an RN for over 5 years and have never worked at a place that does this. I am wondering if anyone else out there has to deal with this??? I work hard and feel like I deserve to be able to make plans to be off when I have days off. Staffing is not my issue but the hospitals issue. Am I wrong for feeling like this?

[Good Morning, Gil]

If they're going to mandate you to work on your days off, then they should at least let you know for which days you will be mandated. (they shouldn't do this anyway, though). Their poor staffing is not your problem. Start applying for other jobs, and when you find one, give an appropriate notice.

[rngolfer53]

So... they give you a weeks notice when they need you to cover a shift, and this is a problem?

When's the last time you scheduled an illness or car accident (or whatever keeps you away from work) 6 months ahead?

The new person gets the garbage nobody else wants.... isn't that how seniority is suposed to work?

What have all the other places done.... compeltely shut down because none of the staff felt like showing up?

Really not trying to sound argumentitive.... I work with folks who have the same "attitude" and will NOT work a minute more than their "normally" scheduled time, but expect the world to drop what it's doing to cover their shifts when they have something come up.... I never really "got" that mentality.

Management is responsible for hiring adequate staff to run the business. It's not the employees' responsibility to cover for inept managers.

Absenteeism and high turnover are a red flag that an organization is in trouble, and not a place where one will likely enjoy working.

There are people who expect the world to cover for them, but don't reciprocate. If there's a slew of those where you work, I'd suspect cronyism or just bad hiring and retention practices.

Right now, my workplace has several people out on FMLA. These are nurses who have worked there for years, with good records. Stuff like this happens. Yes, I'll stay over, pick up an extra shift or part of one, out of loyalty to my colleagues and the patients/families. I trade shifts pretty often too, when I can, and people have traded at my request.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

I would like to know the definition of the term "mandate" in the context of this particular employer, and how it relates to that employer's HR policies, and also the laws of wherever this person works.

I am a fan of "give and take" type relationships where I will give my unit some of my free time and work a shift to cover someone, but I also won't do it all the time or every weekend. I will try, and when I am able I will help, and that is nice. My facility pays incentive for working extra or coming in for an unscheduled shift, and while I appreciate that and it certainly sweetens the pot, I do not mention it when discussing if I will work extra, as really the considerations for me are whether or not I can physically work it. If I can't, money isn't gonna make me able to work it so I don't talk as though it will.

The original poster makes me wonder if their unit could benefit from a call schedule. Everyone has to be on call a certain number of shifts per month, say two shifts, and they count in the scheme of things where discipline is concerned. It is ok to use "call shifts" to help make staffing work. But it needs to be fair, not the newbie doing all the extra.