Michigan at- will employment

[Thundercat]

Hi everyone I am one of the newborns to this site.

I wanted some information for Michigan's at-will employment law. I have been a nurse now for seven years, and I have learned that nursing has a revolving door. I have worked at some facilities and I have seen nurses working for one month, and then the next month they are all totally new. My concern is that I have taken a new job at a LTC. I went through all of the classroom orientation and it was my first night to work the floor with f the regular nurses. The facilily was very unrealistic as far as patient care was concerned, so I informed the regular nurse that I would not return for the next day of orientation because the place was not somewhere that I would like to work. I could not inform the DON or ADON because the following day was a weekend. A WEEK later afer I had been a no call no show for 7 days the ADON called me and asked me why I failed to show up for the weekend orientation, in an attempt to try to make me work the following weekend. I informed her that I told the nurse that I would not be returning and and I assumed that she was notified because staffing never called me for the shifts that I missed. So now the ADON is upset and told me that she was going to report me for job abandonment because I should have called and let her or the DON know. I did tell her about Michigan's at will employment law and I had also informed her that the law is also qouted in the employee handbook that states that I can be let go for any reason without any notice, and I have a right to quit without any notice as well. The ADON informed me that that rule does not apply to nurse but it does not state that in the handbook, and now she is threatening to call the state on me. If she makes a report of job abandonment do I have a right to sue?

[Jolie, BSN]

The ADON can report you to the BON, but what you did does not constitute patient abandonment.

Abandonment is leaving during the course of a working shift without properly handing off patients and reporting to a person in charge.

Your method of resigning was not the best, but it was not patient abandonment. In the future, you need to make contact with your manager and Human Resources in person and/or writing to inform him/her of your intent to quit. It is never acceptable to expect a third party to do that for you.

[leosasha]

You can always write a letter of intent, date it, and put it under the appropriate doors. You are an at will employee. It works both ways. I know of nurses being escorted out the door when they show up for a shift. I have worked in an, " at will " state. Live and Learn :smackingf

[RN1982]

I don't believe she has just cause to report you to the board. What's the BON going to do anyhow? You didn't like your job, so you quit. Not in the best manner though.

[RN1982]

at-will employment is a doctrine of [color=#002bb8]american law that defines an [color=#002bb8]employment relationship in which either party can break the relationship with no liability, provided there was no express [color=#002bb8]contract for a definite term governing the employment relationship and that the employer does not belong to a collective bargain (i.e. a [color=#002bb8]union). under this legal doctrine:

“any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work.[color=#5a3696][1]

the adon is an idiot.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

To my knowledge, what you did was not job abandonment, that your DON is just trying to scare you. She has probably had many who walked off during their first few days when they saw how insane this place probably is.

I do believe, however, that the next time you choose to resign from a position, that you inform the proper channels. Telling a collague is not the same as telling Human Resources, a nursing supervisor/administrator of DON. The collague is not responsible for telling anyone that you decided not to return. In addition, you were not there to know exactly what, if anything this other nurse said at all. It could have been that what the nurse said is what is prompting the DON to over react to this...she could have said something so off the wall that the DON was insulted. The best way to communicate a message is to do it yourself, so that there is not a question in anyone's mind what your plans were. I wish you the best, however. It is better to leave with your license in hand than to have to worry about being brought up on charges.

[Thundercat]

Thanks for the response. I know the way that I left could have been handled more professionally, but she still did not call me until a week later for me to make up the weekend that I missed. I do think that she was more upset because she was on call that weekend. I thought that I had the right to self terminate which is a no call no show for 2 days straight so I did not see the problem with it, but if the situation arrives again I will hanle it a lot better.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

at-will employment is a doctrine of [color=#002bb8]american law that defines an [color=#002bb8]employment relationship in which either party can break the relationship with no liability, provided there was no express [color=#002bb8]contract for a definite term governing the employment relationship and that the employer does not belong to a collective bargain (i.e. a [color=#002bb8]union). under this legal doctrine:

"any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work.[color=#5a3696][1]

the adon is an idiot.

:yeahthat:

i just thought of this as well, you can possibly call the bon and ask this same question. i think it is safe to do so, because she cannot do this unless you abandoned patients.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Thanks for the response. I know the way that I left could have been handled more professionally, but she still did not call me until a week later for me to make up the weekend that I missed. I do think that she was more upset because she was on call that weekend. I thought that I had the right to self terminate which is a no call no show for 2 days straight so I did not see the problem with it, but if the situation arrives again I will hanle it a lot better.

Ahh, we live and we learn. I have quit jobs in the past in very unceremonious ways (before I was a nurse). It didn't matter to me, because I just didn't want to be there. I just believe that as nurses, we have to be a bit more careful in how we do what we do. Nursing is a small world, and many times, people stumble under each other in strange circumstances. Most administrators are fired or quit even faster, in some cases than regular staff nurses. It would not be a surprize to run into this person again at another facility and another time. You don't want them to carry that particular memory of you to share with others and possibly blackball you at a later date.

[catlynLPN]

She is just trying to scare and intimidate you.

What you did may be job abandonment but not patient abandonment, and job abandonment is between you and the employer, not between you and the BON. As long as you didn't walk out in the middle of a shift without properly turning your patients over to another nurse, the BON is most likely not going to do anything to you about this.

This is between you and the employer.

It might look bad on your job record but when you go to apply for another job you can explain why you did it.

I wouldn't worry about it if it were me.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I wouldn't worry about it if it were me.

And, I probably wouldn't even mention it. Mum is the word...