Required to stay at hospital with no pay

RegularNurse · Dec 21, 2016

Obviously you are supposed to get paid if you must stay at work as essential staff. Your employer has a written policy about this. Review the policy and get the difference added to your next paycheck.

CCU BSN RN · Dec 21, 2016

We called it a Code D, for 'Disaster', and yes they can mandate you to stay if a natural disaster has created an unsafe staffing situation. Legally they cannot 'hold you against your will' but they can fire you for leaving. With regard to pay, I got paid double time every time we were 'Code D' during hours that I was working as well as time that I was sleeping in hospital. They would have us clock out when we weren't actually on the floor, and fill out a variance form. This is because at our hospital code D pay came from some magical other payroll location, your own floor was not responsible for paying you to sleep.

I would recommend that you ask a senior nurse on the floor (or 2) who has been through this before. Then I would recommend that you review your hospital's 'Code White Policy'. That policy will probably spell everything out pretty clearly. I'd want to know the above things before speaking with a Manager, to be armed with facts and policy instead of hurt feelings.

bootsnbutton · Dec 21, 2016

In colorado, it's mandated that you have to stay in the hospital during a crisis such as a blizzard. They did not have to pay us for our sleeping time but did have to supply us with uninterrupted sleep time and feed us. If we were woken up then we got paid to work, it's just part of the game in colorado, you live there you might get stuck if there is a blizzard.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2016

This is simple as 1-2-3:

1. If you are not being paid, you can do what you want and go where you want.

2. If you don't show up for your shift, then you can be fired.

3. If they want you to stay at the hospital and not work, they must give you uninterrupted sleep, on-call pay, and feed you.

Asystole RN · Dec 21, 2016

Keep in mind that when you work in healthcare you work in an essential facility that has it's own rules and regulations.

One might think that if you are compelled to stay that you should be compensated but only things that are integral to your work are compensable. A good example of this is the Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Buck Supreme Court Case a couple years ago where warehouse employees who were made to stand in security lines as long as 20-30 minutes after clocking out sued for compensation for that time. The Supreme Court unanimously declared that since the security lines were not essential to their job function that it was not compensable.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2016

Keep in mind that when you work in healthcare you work in an essential facility that has it's own rules and regulations.
One might think that if you are compelled to stay that you should be compensated but only things that are integral to your work are compensable. A good example of this is the Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Buck Supreme Court Case a couple years ago where warehouse employees who were made to stand in security lines as long as 20-30 minutes after clocking out sued for compensation for that time. The Supreme Court unanimously declared that since the security lines were not essential to their job function that it was not compensable.

What you must do in order to get into work isn't compensatable. Just like your commute during a blizzard is not hours worked.

Requiring an employee to stay on-site with the expectation that they could be called to duty and all of the restrictions that go along with that fits the definition of on-call and is due on-call pay.

IANAL

Asystole RN · Dec 21, 2016

What you must do in order to get into work isn't compensatable. Just like your commute during a blizzard is not hours worked.
Requiring an employee to stay on-site with the expectation that they could be called to duty and all of the restrictions that go along with that fits the definition of on-call and is due on-call pay.
IANAL

Was the employee on-call (expected to be called to duty) or was the employee merely held for inclement weather safety concerns? We would have to dig into the policy at that facility and gain clarification from the OP.

In my example, the core of the issue was not traveling to or from the workplace but centered around the ability of an employer to hold an employee on-site for a period of time without compensation.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2016

Was the employee on-call (expected to be called to duty) or was the employee merely held for inclement weather safety concerns? We would have to dig into the policy at that facility and gain clarification from the OP.
In my example, the core of the issue was not traveling to or from the workplace but centered around the ability of an employer to hold an employee on-site for a period of time without compensation.

No in your example, the security line was effectively part of an unavoidable commute.

Even if there was no expectation that an employee could be called to duty during their 12 hour rest period, confining the employee to the building is not an unavoidable portion of their commute. The employee might live across the street or prefer a hotel across the street. Compelling an employee to stay at work for all of their off hours because MAYBE they'd have trouble being on time, then denying compensation, is not a very defensible policy. You can try and defend anything, you just won't win.

Otherwise, I could write policy where nobody was ever allowed to leave my hospital between shifts because maybe there could be a traffic jam or someone might call in last moment. Food will be provided.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 21, 2016

Read your hospital's policy on extreme weather, and make sure you understand it. Facilities cannot hold you prisoner, but they can be quite firm about the need for you to show up for your next shift. If you cannot get home and back safely, then offering you a place to sleep (in an actual room with an actual bed, and presumably a shower and toilet) was actually a very nice for thing for them to do. And of course they're not going to pay you if you're not actually working. Most facilities will, however, give you on call pay and meal vouchers to "spend" at the cafeteria.

Asystole RN · Dec 21, 2016

No in your example, the security line was effectively part of an unavoidable commute.
Even if there was no expectation that an employee could be called to duty during their 12 hour rest period, confining the employee to the building is not an unavoidable portion of their commute. The employee might live across the street or prefer a hotel across the street. Compelling an employee to stay at work for all of their off hours because MAYBE they'd have trouble being on time, then denying compensation, is not a very defensible policy. You can try and defend anything, you just won't win.
Otherwise, I could write policy where nobody was ever allowed to leave my hospital between shifts because maybe there could be a traffic jam or someone might call in last moment. Food will be provided.

It does not sound like they held the OP because she might be late for a shift 3 days later, it sounds like they held her for a blizzard. I have been in hospitals in Texas (as an outside vendor) where they held us because of tornado warnings. They held the staff, visitors...everyone. I assume they were not holding us because they might need staffing, given we were not employees. Damn, should I as a non-employee have asked for on-call time??? I missed out.

Generally when there is an inclement weather hold it is because going outside poses a serious risk to health and life. A hotel or stroll across the street is generally out of the question.

Holding someone after their shift for severe weather is as part of the commute as holding someone for a security check.

That being said, we do not know if they what the hospital's policy on the matter is.

My point is that when you are held due to weather, it may not be compensable under current law. Intent, the circumstances, state law, and facility policy are all variables that need to be accounted for.

I had already worked my 12 hr shift and wasn't scheduled to work for three more days.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Dec 21, 2016

Contract your state's board of nursing and labor board.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2016

they held us because of tornado warnings. They held the staff, visitors

You seriously comparing a 10 minute tornado warning to a 12 hour mandatory "don't leave the hospital because we want you here tomorrow (or tonight) just in case scheduled workers don't show up."

I've been through blizzards and tornados in many states. I'm starting to think you've experienced nothing but a tornado warning this one time.

And no, the hospital cannot keep visitors from leaving during a blizzard or tornado. They can advise, they can ask, but they can't make them stay or take punitive action if they decide to leave.

when there is an inclement weather hold it is because going outside poses a serious risk to health and life. A hotel or stroll across the street is generally out of the question.

Snow... too dangerous to cross the street... have you ever seen this killer death snow? Come on... I like a good debate but you are either being disingenuous or you are arguing from somewhere that never gets snow. And it is not incumbent on a facility to forcibly ensure my safety outside their campus off shift under threat of discipline if I leave.

Holding someone after their shift for severe weather is as part of the commute as holding someone for a security check.

No. It isn't. Going through a check for workplace security can be part of a commute. Workplaces are not responsible for holding you for 12 hours under threat of discipline to ensure your safety outside of work, that is not tantamount to a commute.

Look, blizzard staff holds are 99% about ensuring staffing, and trying to imply otherwise is just silly. They want the staffing guarantee at the cost of dictating your location and activity, and that is compensable.