At the hospital I work at, nurses and techs only receive overtime for any hours over forty hours worked in a week. I have beefed to HR that this policy is unfair to part-time staff, contingent staff, and even full time staff who for one reason or another don't get forty hours per week.
It is my contention that staff should be paid overtime for any hours worked over their daily scheduled hours...period. And that is how it used to be at my facility. In all fairness that IS how it should be, but HR has remained mute on the issue.
Sorry, I disagree with you, and the US Department of Labor does too.
Part-time is just that, part-time. I have talked to very few people that have "set" part-time hours that work in hospitals. It's just a part of the working environment that you might not always get out on time...and that isn't going to change anywhere you work for the rest of your life.
It's also a business decision that keeps you employed. Payroll is the #1 controllable expense in any business, and if they have a choice between getting you to stay for regular wage, or paying a full-timer overtime, they are going to ask you every time.
What happens when they blow all their payroll on overtime? They start making cuts, and you could find yourself out of a job...that's the cold hard facts.
If a facility is offering something, like what TazziRN gets if she works over a shift, that is most-likely a hospital policy and precious few states have laws in excess of over 8 hours per day is considered OT.
And therein lies the rub. I have a life outside of work and my wife and family take precedence over work. I do not define myself by the work I do, much as I love it. So, any time which is taken away from that life needs to be compensated for. In my unit, THERE IS NO CHOICE. We stay until the last patient is out the door. Now, whether that is noon or 2100 depends upon the census. I am scheduled for 40 hrs per week, and if the census is low, I may go home early one day or stay for 14 or 15 hours the next. Thus if I work 15 hours on one day and get sent home early the rest of the week, I not only eat up my PLT to keep my paycheck stable, I don't get properly remunerated for the additional hours spent at work. Just because the Department of Labor says its so doesn't make it right.
As for the business end of the matter...The hospital is in the business of providing patient care> If they don't care for the staff, their means of providing that care will become increasingly dissatisfied and seek work elsewhere. if not leave nursing altogether, which is happening all to often.
It used to be an incentive to get people to work overtime that they would offer OT above and beyond their shedule. If they worked only 8 hours a week and agreed to work an extra 8 that week, the extra was OT.
Perhaps where you work it's not necessary to offer this incentive to everyone. Just in hard-to-staff areas, such as RNs and LPNs.
To the one working extra it might not seem "fair" and showing favoritism, but it's merely a business decision.
My facility dropped it because they found people were signed up for part-time positions, yet still working 3 12's a week and getting OT for the 3rd 12-hour shift.
Wow, after reading all the posts, I feel very fortunate to have OT every minute after scheduled shift. I kind of assumed this was the norm, especially in the healthcare profession.
The downfall to this, if you can believe their is one, is that a lot of nurses and NACs work doubles. By the end of their second shift that they have just been paid time and a half for, they are tired and sloppy. Frequently, the next shift on is cleaning up the mess. AND, these nurses and NACs that do lots of doubles are so tired, they call in on their scheduled shifts.
I think OT is great...but I never felt it was owed to me when I worked part time. The gov set up overtime as a regulation to keep employers from overworking employees without compensation. It wasn't originally intended to just make extra money. It was to make the employer think long and hard about the extra hours they were requiring.
I think it's great when a facility pays good OT. I just got a job where I get paid OT on an 8/80 status. I think it's great..but if they didn't I wouldn't be upset. Good OT is one of those perks to good facilities, and something you should ask about before accepting a position if it's important to you.
In my earlier post, I said that my current and previous employers have never paid overtime except for hours worked over 40 in a week. However, in reading some of the other posts in this thread, I see that some people are defining "extra hours" differently. The exact type of hours that are "extra" makes a difference to a lot of employers.
For example: At my hospital, if someone is hired to a part-time position and is regularly scheduled to work 1 shift per week for a total of 12 hours/week -- but then decides she would like a little extra cash and volunteers to pick up an extra shift for the next schedule -- that extra shift is NOT paid overtime. In that case, the employee voluntarily increased her hours to give herself some additional income. If the hospital paid overtime rates for those types of hours, they would quickly go broke as so many nurses would drop down their "officially committed" hours with plans to actually work more shifts at the overtime rate.
However ... when there is a crisis and people are being begged to pick up some extra shifts ... the hospital will often offer some incentive pay to reward those who pick up extra hours they don't really want to work. When I responded the first time, I didn't include those types of incentives. I was talking about the part timers or per diem staff who regularly work more some weeks than others because they adjust their number of hours to accommodate their family needs. They officially commit to a position working fewer hours ... then look for opportunities to pick up extra hours when it suits them. I don't think that group deserves overtime pay unless it adds up to more than 40 hours -- but the group that picks up hours in a crisis when they don't want to deserves the extra reward.
At our facility we get a $40 bonus if we come in on a day off. If we're already in overtime then we get OT on top of the bonus. This way..part timers do get incentive to come in an extra day. However...they try to stay well staffed. So if you try to officially work less hours with the intention of picking up....the hours may or may not be there.
My facility only pays overtime if we work over 40 hours in a week. However, we also get $100 per shift for extra shifts that we work (over our 3 12's). I think that's pretty fair.
We also work 3 12's. If you have to stay over after the end of your shift, its double time. If you work more than 40 hours/week then it's time and a half.
Part-time is just that, part-time. I have talked to very few people that have "set" part-time hours that work in hospitals. It's just a part of the working environment that you might not always get out on time...and that isn't going to change anywhere you work for the rest of your life.
It's also a business decision that keeps you employed. Payroll is the #1 controllable expense in any business, and if they have a choice between getting you to stay for regular wage, or paying a full-timer overtime, they are going to ask you every time.
What happens when they blow all their payroll on overtime? They start making cuts, and you could find yourself out of a job...that's the cold hard facts.
I have never worked in a place--hosptial or other--that doesn't "set" part-time positions. At my institution, any employee that is regularly scheduled under 40 hours per week is considered part-time. Any hours worked over the regular shift length is time and a half (as long as your shift is under 12 hours); and hours worked over 12 is automatically double-time. However, if a nurse who is regularly scheduled 32 hours per week were to pick up an extra shift on her/his day off, they would get paid regular time until they hit 40 hours, then overtime would kick in.
This works out financially with the hospital in that the trade-off is all part-time benefits are pro-rated. They aren't pro-rated based on the actual hours you work--they are pro-rated based on your regularly set schedule that you are hired at. I was hired for 32 hours--so, even if I were to frequently work more than that, all of my benefits--health/life insurance, vacation, educational assistance--would remain consistent with a 32 hour work week. So, while the hospital might pay a little more if I were to stay 12 hours in a day instead of my regularly scheduled 8, they don't have to compensate me additionally by adjusting my benefits.
Many institutions have systems that are similar, but are designed uniquely to meet the needs of their employee population. Having a union definitely helps--it encourages more people to become actively involved, and the more ideas in the pot, the more creative the solution.
But, It doesn't really matter to me, because unless they are offering me double time, then I'm not coming in-nor am I staying over.
And if there isn't a nurse to cover my paitents for the next shift, then the house supervisor can don some scrubs and get to work, because I'm going home at 730.
I am a "24 hr/wk" employee with 24hr/wk benefits. If they are scrambling for someone to stay over or come in an extra shift, they pay me callback pay. (Time and a half). I work in surgery so maybe it is different on the floor.
dzadzey, MSN, RN
78 Posts
And therein lies the rub. I have a life outside of work and my wife and family take precedence over work. I do not define myself by the work I do, much as I love it. So, any time which is taken away from that life needs to be compensated for. In my unit, THERE IS NO CHOICE. We stay until the last patient is out the door. Now, whether that is noon or 2100 depends upon the census. I am scheduled for 40 hrs per week, and if the census is low, I may go home early one day or stay for 14 or 15 hours the next. Thus if I work 15 hours on one day and get sent home early the rest of the week, I not only eat up my PLT to keep my paycheck stable, I don't get properly remunerated for the additional hours spent at work. Just because the Department of Labor says its so doesn't make it right.
As for the business end of the matter...The hospital is in the business of providing patient care> If they don't care for the staff, their means of providing that care will become increasingly dissatisfied and seek work elsewhere. if not leave nursing altogether, which is happening all to often.