NP contract? salary with no holiday pay?

Oldmahubbard · May 15, 2018

You are being paid by the hour, with apparently no PTO benefit.The use of the word "salary" here is possibly not accurate.

It sounds like the employer is unusually cheap. I have never heard of money taken out of one's check for having Christmas Day off.

However, I have certainly had jobs where I was only paid for what I did.

My next question- the last patient for the day leaves the office at 5, but you are there until 7, completing paperwork and making calls. Are the 2 hours paid, or not, because you are "salary'?

Whether any of this is reasonable all depends on the hourly rate, vs the salary, and the NP job market in your area.

Some research, and number crunching is needed.

AZFIREWIFE · May 15, 2018

The contract specifically states, " will include a salary of $XX,XXX per year working 8 hours a day avoiding overtime, because it is a salary based job" another excerpt, " in case the employee works less than 80 hours in 2 weeks from there will be an hourly deduction of $XX.XX per hour except if the low number of hours are due to allowed 3 sick days and 5 vacation days. Again the 7 non working days (holidays) as mentioned above in item 20 we close the office and any days taken by the employee as non paid vacation will be deducted from the 80 hours per 2 weeks"

He said it's a "salary/hourly hybrid" contract........all after he said he read on the web about the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Oldmahubbard · May 15, 2018

Total of 8 paid days off, and zero holidays. Only 5 days of vacation a year. Remarkably low.

If the salary is high enough to compensate, you might consider it. Again, I don't know what the job market is there. You have to do some comparing.

If it is an office practice, I am not sure how they can guarantee the day's work can be done in 8 hours. It usually takes longer in my experience.

When I started, the job market was poor enough that I had to take whatever came my way. It ended up working out. Eventually:)

Dodongo, APRN, NP · May 15, 2018

This is a good deal for him, and a crappy deal for you. I would not agree to it. It's either salaried or hourly - this "hybrid" is just a way for him to not pay you.

Oldmahubbard · May 15, 2018

This is a good deal for him, and a crappy deal for you. I would not agree to it. It's either salaried or hourly - this "hybrid" is just a way for him to not pay you.

Hard to say. If they are offering 125k in a market that usually pays 100k....

Again, the market. What are your other offers?

203bravo, MSN, APRN · May 15, 2018

The contract needs to specify weather you are an exempt or non-exempt employee. This is key in your case.. non-exempt employee, even salaried, is due overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 during a week, however they need not be paid for any holiday closings. Exempt employees do not receive overtime pay, but they do receive the full week salary if they work any part of the week in which the holiday closing occurred. For example -- if the office is closed for the holiday on the Monday following a weekend holiday and an exempt employee works Tuesday - Friday as scheduled then they are to receive the entire week's pay. Failure to do so would most likely revert them to the non exempt status and they would then be eligible for overtime pay from past weeks as well as future weeks.

You need to have an attorney look at this contract prior to accepting it as it seems that it is not professionally written and the employer is appearing to take what he wants from both exempt and non exempt employee classifications in order to avoid having to pay both overtime and holiday.

Oldmahubbard · May 15, 2018

The contract needs to specify weather you are an exempt or non-exempt employee. This is key in your case.. non-exempt employee, even salaried, is due overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 during a week, however they need not be paid for any holiday closings. Exempt employees do not receive overtime pay, but they do receive the full week salary if they work any part of the week in which the holiday closing occurred. For example -- if the office is closed for the holiday on the Monday following a weekend holiday and an exempt employee works Tuesday - Friday as scheduled then they are to receive the entire week's pay. Failure to do so would most likely revert them to the non exempt status and they would then be eligible for overtime pay from past weeks as well as future weeks.
You need to have an attorney look at this contract prior to accepting it as it seems that it is not professionally written and the employer is appearing to take what he wants from both exempt and non exempt employee classifications in order to avoid having to pay both overtime and holiday.

Excellent and thanks for the clarification

FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP · May 15, 2018

This sounds very fishy and I'm not sure it is even legal. As 203Bravo suggested, consult an attorney. An initial consultation with an employment attorney is usually free. You can also go to the website for your state's labor board to get more info on salaried employee rights.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · May 16, 2018

The contract specifically states, " will include a salary of $XX,XXX per year working 8 hours a day avoiding overtime, because it is a salary based job" another excerpt, " in case the employee works less than 80 hours in 2 weeks from there will be an hourly deduction of $XX.XX per hour except if the low number of hours are due to allowed 3 sick days and 5 vacation days. Again the 7 non working days (holidays) as mentioned above in item 20 we close the office and any days taken by the employee as non paid vacation will be deducted from the 80 hours per 2 weeks"

While salaried employees are generally considered "exempt" from overtime....what are the actual odds you're going to be able to avoid overtime? Essentially the employer's not paying for vacation time as well???

What else have you been offered?

AZFIREWIFE · May 16, 2018

I did call the department of labor and have some good info to reference during our next meeting! I am pretty positive he has not previously hired a salari d employee before.

I also obtained a contract from a friend that was similarly being hired into a small practice and her contract addressed so many other things such as CME$, days to do CME's, more vacation, more sick etc. What it does not have is the salary structure up to $125! Which is an excellent potential salary for this region!

I did receive another offer from a large specialty group that was $5000 less salary, $10k bonus, medical benefits and 401k but would require a lot of travel from clinic to clinic and the location was greater than 1 hour commute in rush hour traffic! This offer is within my area and I have my husband's medical insurance to bridge that gap.

Long story short, I gave him a copy of my friends contract with the personal and clinic info erased and told him that I believe it has pertinent info for both of our benefit and we could use it as an example! So I'm hoping this helps move the negotiations forward!

Neats, BSN · May 16, 2018

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or holidays (Federal or otherwise). These benefits are a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee (or the employee's representative).

It sounds like he is trying to hire you as an independent contractor. You can still be classified as an employee in a sense however you have to pay all your taxes it is strictly based on compensation and usually independent contractors do not get the holiday pay. I was an independent contract for awhile as a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator for a year I made tons of monies to help put my kids through college but the taxes I paid and the work I did far outweighed the compensation. I was paid 30 percent greater than what I would earn as a salaried employee and that still was not enough.

If you have to provide this person with HR information I would be hesitant to see what else he comes up with. I would be very clear with your expectations and when and if you sign on to this I would have very clear boundaries and a very clear contract. Think about the what if's. Think about what if he says it is not a good fit I am letting you go...think about sick and calling in...about a workshop you want to attend to get your CEU's, the doctor/dentist appoint you or family have to go to, or for that matter what if it is snowy and the place is wrought full of no shows/cancelation do you still get paid or would they send you home? And what about on call how will that be handled?

Ask why, why, why questions. He is using a salary example and then adding in other factors...you should too. Negotiate the best deal you can get, know your bottom line and never reveal it, always shoot for 40 percent more and then whittle down from that. If you have ever been at an auction or second hand sale think about how they want the best deal do this for yourself. What it comes down to is business, nothing personal just business...negotiate this way.