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.
We have to work over 40 to automatically get OT, or work on a weekend off. We usually make deals, too. If there's a critical need for a nurse on a particular shift, you can usually ask for OT and get it.
Wow, I am really envious of some of the nurses in this thread! I think that is great that your employer pays for hours worked over scheduled, or for hours worked over 8 or over 36. I routinely work 13 hour shifts (have to come in early, and always leave late), often I work 50+ hours a week, and usually in 12s (though rarely I do a 4).
I should explain...while I get OT for hours over 8, that's because that's what I'm contracted to work. Those who are contracted for 12's only get OT for hours worked over 12.
Having read over the many post regarding overtime, some of the stated premises are flawed, and similar to those offered by management.
At my institution, I was informed that when the option of 12 hour shifts was made available, the 40 hour mark before overtime was instituted because it was 'fair'. This being that people got paid the same for 12 hour shifts as 8 hour shifts. I think it fairly obvious that this is a ploy by management to minimize the number of OT hours paid to those who might not work full time or whose hours are heavily dependent on census, such as my inpatient dialysis unit.
If they want to be fair, management would pay OT for any hours worked OVER AND ABOVE one's scheduled shift on a given day. This would mean that some one who, having just worked an 8 or 12 hour shift would be paid OT for any extra hours worked in addition to their shift for that day. This would ensure that even those who work casual or part time are fairly compensated for the additional time they put in at work. If someone picks up a shift they get paid their standard hourly wage unless those hours put them in OT or they work longer than the scheduled shift.
I'll be going round and round with management in the future. I'll let you know what happens.
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allele, LPN
247 Posts
We have to work over 40 to automatically get OT, or work on a weekend off. We usually make deals, too. If there's a critical need for a nurse on a particular shift, you can usually ask for OT and get it.