Not told of lower training pay

[amberlt91]

I just graduated as a practical nurse in August and accepted a position at an assisted living facility. On my second interview, she told me the rate they pay and said, "This is what we pay new grads." It is a decent rate and I was happy with it, and a different training rate was never discussed.

I went in today to do my new hire paperwork, signed a contract stating the starting pay we discussed in my interview, was given the company shirts, my badge, and told when to come in for my first day of orientation.

On my way out the door the HR lady said, "You know you won't get the full pay until after you pass the test, right?"

This was not discussed at any point in time. The pay is $7 less than the contract I signed stated, and the same rate I used to make as a CNA.

I am disappointed. I told the HR lady this was not discussed at any time and if that was the case I would rather start the first week of October so I'm not in orientation for 4 weeks.

She said she would tell the DON, who hired me, but I feel like I should call her myself and discuss this.

Any advice on how to handle this? I know of other places I could work who pay $1 less until you pass the NCLEX and I feel deceived.

[amberlt91]

I was hired as a graduate practical nurse and only *after* I filled out all of my new hire paperwork did the HR lady tell me I would be making $7 LESS than the rate I signed my contract for until I pass my NCLEX in October!!! Never mentioned during the interviews!

I turned down other jobs for this one because I thought I would start out at my LPN rate.

I feel manipulated and like this was very deceptive.

Should I tell them I'm not doing it and find a different job, or just accept the low pay for a month?

[Fiona59]

When I worked as a GPN, I was paid as an NA until I passed my registration exam.

Brought in the pass certificate and was backpaid for the hours worked.

Look into it, it might be a similar situation.

[Sour Lemon]

I was hired as a graduate practical nurse and only *after* I filled out all of my new hire paperwork did the HR lady tell me I would be making $7 LESS than the rate I signed my contract for until I pass my NCLEX in October!!! Never mentioned during the interviews!

I turned down other jobs for this one because I thought I would start out at my LPN rate.

I feel manipulated and like this was very deceptive.

Should I tell them I'm not doing it and find a different job, or just accept the low pay for a month?

Can you test sooner? When I was hired as a new grad RN, I wasn't even allowed to train/orient until after I had NCLEX passing results.

I bumped up my testing date because I was pretty broke at that point.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

They definitely should have told you about the difference in pay. I would be wary of them.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Well do you have another option? I wouldn't give up a job hoping that something better would come along when you might end up not finding anything.

My state doesn't have "graduate nurse" status so until you have a nursing license, the best you can do is CNA wages which is a lot less than $7/hr less than RN wages.

[nursel56]

I was hired as a graduate practical nurse and only *after* I filled out all of my new hire paperwork did the HR lady tell me I would be making $7 LESS than the rate I signed my contract for until I pass my NCLEX in October!!! Never mentioned during the interviews!

I turned down other jobs for this one because I thought I would start out at my LPN rate.

I feel manipulated and like this was very deceptive.

Should I tell them I'm not doing it and find a different job, or just accept the low pay for a month?

When you say you accepted the job because you thought you would start out at your LPN rate, are you saying the jobs you turned down were rejected because they were paying you less for a month?

If you feel sure they are deceptive rather than inadvertently disorganized, you should probably bail out now. The only other advice is that when you start your first job, there are other factors that would be much more important to me than whether or not I would be making under the going rate for a month.

Whether you end up happy or miserable as time goes on, that one thing will have less and less significance.

Wishing you the best!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Threads merged

[amberlt91]

I didn't turn the other jobs down just for that reason. This facility has a lot of good qualities and the people are so nice. I felt like I had a real interview instead of the other places I went who just asked me when I could start working and had no interest in me aside from filling a position.

I just feel like they should have explained that my starting rate would be different than my rate when I pass boards, but other than that the place is great! Thank you for the advice!

[Katillac, RN]

As this will show, the lower training rate must be made an explicit condition of employment. It should be part of the offfer letter or in your case the contract. Can an Employer Pay Less During Training? - The Workplace Report with Ancel Glink

[amberlt91]

Wow. Thank you for the link and information. I was just going to let it go but now I am unsure what to do again. They did verbally tell me as I was leaving but NOWHERE in my contract does it state lower pay for training. It does say you must be licensed for the job however.

I'm not going to even be a CNA, I am going to be with the nurse learning how to do the job. This is bumming me out since this is my very first job as a nurse.

[JBudd, MSN]

It stinks, and you can argue; but you can argue yourself right out of job you seem to want. Do you want to wait with no pay until you pass, or get a lesser amount while you orient and not risk the job. Again, it stinks, and if the above link can get you back pay, go for it.