On call with no pay

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Where I work, the RN's are expected to carry a cell phone and be on call 24/7 every 6 weeks. While it does not seem to be that much to ask of us, we feel it is. We live in northern New York State and cell phone service can be spotty in places. This means our travel is limited. I can not attend my daughter's soccer games if they are anywhere near the mountains.

Because we are salaried, they tell us it is part of our job and offer us no compensation other than our regular pay. I just got off call on Wednesday. In the week, I had the phone, I had 30 calls. Some are in the middle of the night and others require us to go to the building to assess an issue. There is no compensation for the calls or going in. They expect us to take time off later in the week which is usually not possible.

I'm wondering if anyone has a similar issue. If anyone is on call like this, could you tell me if you get compensation and what kind of compensation? We are going to write a proposal and need some comparisons so we can see what we should be asking for. We're thinking a dollar amount per call because some weeks are very busy and others are not.

Thanks for your input!

When I worked in a hospital years ago, if the census was low we would get called off however we had to come in if called. We did get time and a half if we came in but we didnt receive anything for being on call, basically staying at home waiting for a call. That changed in the past few years I dont know if the hospital got in trouble for that or what.

When I worked home health we got paid 500 dollars to be on call for a week and we were on call about 1 week a month. you got paid the 500 dollars if you didnt go out or if you went out 10 times. You also got mileage if you went out.

I will probably never take another job that requires being on call, I like my time off and dont like to share it with anyone. It actually sounds like I got paid very well compared to others and I still dont think I was payed enough. :wink2:

Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

no way would i do that .i agree with tim i would not be a salaried nurse.i work it i expect to get paid.i don't work for free .

Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.
When I worked in a hospital years ago, if the census was low we would get called off however we had to come in if called. We did get time and a half if we came in but we didnt receive anything for being on call, basically staying at home waiting for a call. That changed in the past few years I dont know if the hospital got in trouble for that or what.

When I worked home health we got paid 500 dollars to be on call for a week and we were on call about 1 week a month. you got paid the 500 dollars if you didnt go out or if you went out 10 times. You also got mileage if you went out.

I will probably never take another job that requires being on call, I like my time off and dont like to share it with anyone. It actually sounds like I got paid very well compared to others and I still dont think I was payed enough. :wink2:

I had a similar experience, except that we got paid $1/hour to be on call and then if we had to go in, we just got our regular pay; no time and a half.

This was on nights that we had already been scheduled to work originally, but then got called off because of low census.

Specializes in OR, transplants,GYN oncology.

No institution puts nurses on salary to benefit the nurses. period.

They do it to squeeze every bit of sweat and spirit out of nurses. Any nurse who accepts a salaried position has to know this from the outset.

I take call all the time, as an OR staff nurse, but am paid for my standby time ($2/hr) and get time and a half to go in. I'm sorry your group is in this miserable situation. Since you accepted salaried positions, you're probably stuck.

Specializes in OB.

The salary would have to be commensurate with the responsibility! On my current contract, I get $5.00/hr for on call and time and a half if called in.

When I worked for hospice, I was paid half my hourly wage/hr for taking call. When I worked at the hospital, I was paid $2.00/hr for being on call. Both positions were hourly positions.

Specializes in Developmental Disabilities.

I work for a company which has 6 Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF) and 4 other similar facilities which all care for the developmentally disabled. These facilities do not require nurses in the buildings to pass medications. In NY state, the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities allows aides to pass medications with extra training. As a result, the RN's are placed on call per regulations to field concerns. They have to call use for the use of a PRN and any other reason they think they need us.

Specializes in Developmental Disabilities.

We used to have pagers and for some reason they went to the cell phone. we have been trying to get the pager back, but management doesn't want us to. I'm not sure why.

Specializes in ICU, Hospice, Rehab.

Crystal,

I too am expected to be on call 24/7 every 4th week without compensation. I agree with you that there should be some type of compensation. I also can take off time during the week but like you said there never is time to do so. We are paid every two weeks. I rarely put in less than 45 hrs a week. Yet when I took off last Friday it was educted from my PTO. I am certain that salaried positions are only beneficial for the powers that be.

When I was at a Hospice inpatient unit I worked anywhere from 50 to 65 hours a week because of being on call without an monitary gain. Again it was a salaried position. You could always work more than 40 hours but never less.

Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/Ortho/Psych.

I am confused. When the don goes out of town they expect me to take call in's and, of course, if a nurse calls in guess who gets to come in and work? Me. I am the only other rn, but they have not named me an adon. They don't technically say i'm on call though. It is just expected. They don't want to pay me anything unless i get a call. I think it is ridiculous. I think they are just trying to pinch every penny out of me. Is this legal?

Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

We have call by the day. $25/day. Pretty silly. That's just for coming in if a shift can't be covered.

As ADON, I was on call all the time for questions. I really didn't mind the calls if they were warranted. It's the stupid stuff that kiss me. Mrs. Soandso's sat is 85, should I start 02?

Mr. Watchamcallit fell and has a laceration to his head, bleeding bad. Do I need to send him out?

For crying out loud people. THINK!

Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/Ortho/Psych.
+ Add a Comment