RN international experience not recognized in Alberta??

nutella, MSN, RN · Nov 8, 2016

I am not a Canadian nurse but I wanted to let you know that depending on where you work they may or may not recognize your experience. When I moved to the US, some places recognized my previous work experience but some did not. Ad ultimately it comes down to them paying less and that is what some organizations care most about...

dishes, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2016

Are you working in an Alberta Health Services position under UNA? If so, did you follow the AHS guidelines and complete a recognition of previous experience form and fax it to HR?

Trauma Columnist · Nov 8, 2016

Moved to Nursing in Canada

joanna73, BSN, RN · Nov 9, 2016

AHS recognizes Canadian experience. Depending on the setting, they may or may not recognize experience obtained outside of Canada.

Check with HR.

albertanurse1 · Nov 9, 2016

Thanks for your answers but I'm not working at AHS. UNA just took over our organization and now I'm trying to find some ground to appeal the equivalence decision my employer run on me. As we are paid through AHS I will try to see if AHS form for previous experience helps me. Any other advices from someone who went through similar situation would help.

Thanks.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 9, 2016

UNA doesn't "take over" organizations. They've been given employee permission to REPRESENT them through the union certification process outlined in labour law.

If you don't work for AHS, why are you paid through AHS? That makes no sense. A non-AHS employer doesn't have to do what AHS does, they're independent and can decide their own criteria.

The difference between your experience with McGill and with Alberta is that many more people want to work in Alberta because of the significantly higher pay - even without UNA collective bargaining - so you're in competition with LOTS of other people when it comes to jobs. Employers can be a lot pickier. But that begs the question: are you paid more money in Alberta than you were in QuÃ©bec even without the recognition of your past experience?

albertanurse1 · Nov 10, 2016

First, yes, I don't work for AHS but we are paid by AHS because our establishment provides services that AHS usually provides but they don't have the capability to cover the demand. So there's a special soft call MDS and through this one we evaluate every single patient we have and we send all the info straight to AHS and we are paid accordingly. Therefore all the personnel working in my establishment is paid indirectly by AHS accordingly to AHS norms.

Second, with the experience recognized in Quebec I had almost the same salary like I have now in Alberta because in Quebec I had the maximum experience. The only differences are in the taxes one pays in each province but we don't go into accounting and the cost of living cause this is not the subject here.

Third, my wrong and sorry for the "take over" phrase, UNA is representing us by popular vote but as educated people we are we can really realize that I was not talking about a take over at gun point...

Fourth and last, considering you are a moderator your tone feels a bit harsh. You can always use private messaging instead of putting one against the wall .

I was curious if someone had a similar experience and if I can get a good advice. If I would've wanted to stir murky waters or to get rhetoric questions that question the info I wrote above I would've looked somewhere else. Again, please no offence here and no reading between the lines, I just have one problem, I addressed a question and any suggestions or constructive dialog is welcomed.

Thanks.

dishes, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2016

Have you asked the human resources manager how they assessed your experience and situated you on the pay scale?

At what point in the hiring process did you become aware of your pay scale (eg during the job offer or after you were already working)?

Were you misled about the pay you could expect to receive by your manager/employer at any point?

If you were misled, maybe you can argue that the employer violated your ethical right to receive fair terms and informed consent with the offer of employment? I don't know, you will have to clarify with the union.

Fiona59 · Nov 12, 2016

Reading the post above Dishes, it sounds as if the OP is making more $$ in AB than they did in la belle province

albertanurse1 · Nov 21, 2016

Have you ....

Because it's my first job in Alberta everybody said they need to asses the file first so no promises were made and I had no idea how the system works here. The internal regulation they use to asses my file without considering the international experience is kind of blurry and I'm now studying it to see what can I find to support my cause.

And now I'm working directly with a union representative but in the same time that's why I entered here, maybe I can get more hints of how can I appeal the solution my employer gave me.

dishes, BSN, RN · Nov 26, 2016

@albertanurse, consider contacting Alberta human rights with your question, they will know the law and can guide you on how to appeal to your employer. If you look at Ontario human rights, you will see there is legislation that removes the Canadian work experience barrier, they believe that Canadian employers should have to show why Canadian experience is necessary in order to show proof of work experience. If Alberta has similar laws, or if there is a federal law, you may be able to argue that the employer should show proof that only your Canadian experience is relevant to the job.