mlnrs1

** Every point I have made (every single word) is COMPLETELY relevant to this topic. This thread is about whether or not companies try to screw employees out of overtime pay. Like I said in one of my earlier posts, this is done where I work, but has not yet affected me personally, as I have never had to stay late. Tonight it almost happened. Tonight was hellish, one of those nights, and I got behind to the point that I had about 45 minutes to go before my schduled end-time and it looked like I was not going to finish. I am afraid for that to happen because when my administrator goes into the payroll system and deletes that 15 minutes, and I get the check and see it... I am going to protest vehemently, file official complaints with the labor board, write letters to the CNA, the AFL-CIO, My Senators + Congressmen, Al Gore, the ACLU, the NBA, the OPP and the current King of Siam. I am going to fight without regard to whether I can keep my job. This weighs heavy on me because I love my job. I am very happy where I work and I plan to stay there for a long time (maybe retire from there). If it happens to me though, I will have no choice. I would not be able to allow myself to be exploited/intimidated into being a slave, even if it's just for 15 minutes. I would not be able to live with myself. I am into this thread because it is relevant to my career, right at this minute. I am discussing this topic because has a lot to do with what I am going through. You make me sound like somebody just trolling different threads and spewing unrelated political propaganda for the sake of spewing unrelated political propaganda. That is not the case. To say that this topic has nothing to do with politics is absurd. It has everything to do with politics. I have not said a single word that is off-topic. I don't "hurl insults" at anyone. I make valid points that a lot of people agree with. I banter back and forth with some who don't. Moderators looking at what I say maybe see that I am teetering on a line, but they also see that I am making good points, and that I truly have something to say. That's why they aren't deleting me. ** God, I can't believe I just had to defend my right to speak on a public forum! A public forum for nurses! I'm a nurse. My opinions have as much place here as anyone elses. Who's the fascist?

** 1. Talking about politics should always be free (and whaddaya know... it is, look at me). 2. I will talk about politics anywhere, anytime I want to or feel that I should. Every American should do the same. Politics, like wages, shouldn't be something "you just don't talk about because it's not polite." Both should be discussed/debated openly. If we talked about politics more often, maybe we would not be so chronically un-informed (or in your case, mis-informed) as a citezenry.

If you make less than $400,000 a year (which most nurses do) and you vote Republican, you are a sheep. ...that's the truth they never want you to hear. Yeah, it's all about stem cells and gay marriage, isn't it Mr. President? That's what really matters.

** First off, can you plaese quit propogating the RightSpeak definition of this? Quit watering it down by calling it "incidental" overtime. It is UNPAID overtime. If it is paid, then it is just overtime. If you worked under a union contract and it was weak, why do you think that is? Is it because of the union or because of the right-wing mission to eliminate all unions? Your side has been quite successful, especially in recent years, and all of their success is to the detriment of the working person. By the way, it is not called "right to work" legislation it is called union-busting. Those who support union-busting support UNPAID overtime. It's your politicians with corporate backing (hospitals, HMO's drug companies, etc.). Most of our unions have been weakened, crippled. In many ways your side is winning. So you vote for the people who pick apart workers rights and bust up unions... and then point to a union that has been crippled by this as an example of why unions don't work. Classic.

** Hmm. To me the definition of slavery is working without getting paid (which is what I am obligated to do at my non-union job). It sounds like that's a concept you are okay with as long as it does not affect you personally at this particular time. It's a shame that we do not stick together as a profession.

** ...I hope my administrator is reading this!! There are other ways to save money. Don't cheat people out of the time they work. It is not only wrong, but according to my attorney (who is an expert in these matters), it is illegal. :smiley_aa

--- It is not about "incidental overtime", it is about workers rights. The title of the thread is "Getting Paid $$ for End-of-Shift Overtime?", it's amazing how quickly you have watered it down to "incidental overtime". It's like civil war becomes "sectarian violence", domestic spying becomes "terrorist surveilance", and (it goes the other way too), inheritence tax becomes the "death tax". As to the way you were treated (given "time" that you were never allowed to take), that was wrong. If your union was not crippled by the policies of this adminstration and this Republican controlled congress, you would have gotten the time (or pay) that you rightfully had coming to you. How every nurse votes this November is ABSOLUTELY relevant to this thread: Getting Paid $$ for End-of-Shift Overtime?

RN ALERT: Stay Informed and Engaged Nurses Across Nation Take to Streets to Demand Protection of Right to Organize, Advocate for Patients http://www.calnurses.org/rn-alerts/ Pending Labor Board Decisions Could Imperil RN Protections, Standards, Patient Advocacy Role The National Labor Relations Board will soon issue a major ruling that could jeopardize the ability of RNs to receive the protections afforded by CNA/NNOC representation. At the request of healthcare employers and anti-union consultants, the Board is expected to make the absurd ruling that many thousands of RNs are "supervisors" under the law because they make clinical patient care assignments to other staff. Under federal labor law, supervisors have no protection. THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO UNION REPRESENTATION. ** Hmmm, should I believe them (the California Nurses Association), or GWB, Arnold, and Timothy. That's a tough one.

This is from the CA Division of Labor Standards Enforcement site: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Overtime.htm Q.If an employee works unauthorized overtime is the employer obligated to pay for it? A. Yes, California law requires that employers pay overtime, whether authorized or not, at the rate of one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight up to an including 12 hours in any workday, and for the first eight hours of work on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, and double the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 in any workday and for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek. An employer can discipline an employee if he or she violates the employer’s policy of working overtime without the required authorization. However, California's wage and hour laws require that the employee be compensated for any hours he or she is "suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so." California case law holds that "suffer or permit" means work the employer knew or should have known about. Thus, an employee cannot deliberately prevent the employer from obtaining knowledge of the unauthorized overtime worked, and come back later to claim recovery. The employer must have the opportunity to obey the law. --- Can the attorney here give any insight into: -how "suffer or permit" applies to overtime situations nurses commonly find themselves in? -doesn't this all fall more under state law than federal - states have HUGE differencces w/ regard to labor law. Nurses have legal obligations/responsibilities to our state licensing boards: prohibitions against pt. abandonment or incomplete documentation, etc. These supercede obligations/responsibilities we have to our employer. Any nurse will tell you: "my license is more important than any one job." This doesn't even take into account the party with whom our most primary above-all-others obligations/responsibilities lie, our patients. For those not keeping up, that places the facility you work at 3rd. Priority one, priority two, then them. This creates a huge conflict: if the license I was hired because of requires me to stay, but my company says I can't (or that I won't get paid if I do), what's the prevailing rule? It's not like I am a factory worker who can just throw my hands up and say: "if you aren't going to pay me, I'm leaving!"

We have a time clock too, but I have heard that each pay period our administrator goes into the system and manually removes any time over the scheduled shifts (he is required to sign off on them all before they go to payroll). How they get away with this is by requiring ALL overtime to be pre-approved - hence, if you got too busy or had an emergency and had to stay over (maybe just because you have spent the most time with the patient who had the emergency, know the patient best, and because you care), you are not paid for that time because it was not approved in advance. I work at a privately owned UHS facility in California. As far as I know, California has some pretty liberal labor laws - I can't imagine that this is legal. I know we (nurses) are all paid hourly and classified as non-exempt employees. I haven't worked there long and have not had to stay over yet, but if it ever happens to me I will protest vehemently, file complaints with the state labor board, and see how it plays out. I love my job, but I will give it up before I allow myself to be intimidated into working for free. This administrator that shaves those :15 minutes here, :30 minutes there... why do you think he does it - for HIS fat bonus at the end of the year. If the company gives him even 5% of what he helps them steal from the rest of us... I'm sure it adds up. So he gets a nice bonus, the corp saves a pile of money... and it's all on MY back??? I work for free???? Nope. Not this guy. Not in this lifetime. The only way employers get away with this stuff is by people not speaking up/fighting back.

It's a shame people aren't aware that some of our future doctors are these weenies that joke about goats, mommas, and member size.... Oh yeah? Well your Momma's goat has a small member!!!

It's not a vanity issue - it's a comfort issue. Anyone who... h.hmmm... trims... gets used to it that way and when it gets too long it gets tangled up, it gets pulled when you dress and undress, and it (eeeeeeew, but true) sweats more. It gets uncomfortable and irritating. It's like a guy used to wearing a beard is comfortable with it... but if a guy has always shaved and grows a beard for the first time, there is a long period where it is itchy, uncomfortable, and hot. Comfort issues are everything to LTC residents. Remember, this isn't just a temporary stay they have to endure like at a hospital. This is their home, it's their life, and sometimes YOU and your compassion are all they have.

I'm surprised by the prudishness on here! No offense, but... wow. I'm male and doubt she'd want a male to do it, but I would get an experienced female CNA to do it, just trim it with an electric trimmer. It will make the lady happy and comfortable and would take all of about a minute. Bottom line: a) the patient would feel better if she had it done. b) she cannot do it herself. Nobody would be shy about inserting a cath or lady partsl suppository, or shaving her to prep for surgery.

What they do or don't do with the system is none of your business. Whether the money comes from their private insurance, Medicaid, Daddy's trust fund, or their successful drug smuggling business, you get paid the same. Your job is to treat your patients to the best of your ability, PERIOD. It seems to me that a great many nurses need remedial education on this subject.