Sick Leave Question: different policy for different shifts!

[Nurse!Nurse!Hello?]

My SNF/ICF has a new policy for calling in sick:

If a person is calling in sick for the day shift, they need to call in at least two hours before the start of the shift.

If a person is calling in sick for the evening shift or night shift, they need to call in at least four hours before the start of the shift.

The old policy was giving two hours notice, regardless of the shift.

Does it strike anyone else as odd that there would be different requirements for different shifts? Is it even legal?

Thanks.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

last place i worked had the exact same policy that you described. yes, it's legal and our union negotiated it. i'm not sure how "fair" it is, but if i was too sick to go to work, i usually knew within four hours of the start of the shift.

(except that time i ate the salad at mcdonald's on the way to work and then started feeling a trifle weird and threw up all over the assistant nurse manager as she was trying to give me report.)

[bethin]

I don't find it odd.

Most people sleep at night. If you're called in to work extra at night or evenings (which most go until 11p) that person would probably need some extra notice so they can take a nap before work.

Generally speaking, I give 4 hours notice either way. When I'm sick, I'm sick and 2 hours isn't going to make the flu go away.

[bill4745, RN]

We have had the same policy for years.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

seen that also, of course it makes no sense from the 2' or 3' shifters point view......but that is not who is writing the policy....

[NeosynephRN]

It is also a lot harder to find people to come in to work an extra shift at night..I work nights and if I were to get called in I appreciate 4 hours notice so that I could try to get a nap.

[Debilpn23]

Where I work day shift has to call by 5 am evenings by noon and nights by 6pm

[Nightcrawler, BSN, RN]

I can understand the policy from a staffing standpoint, but there have been times that I have awakened feeling ill and would not have had time to call in before the deadline. Conversely do you wake up and know that you are going to be too sick to work at 3am? This is essentially what they are asking nightshifters to do. This is another way that they can encourage people to work sick because now they will be in trouble if they do not know that they are going to wake up sick

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i can understand the policy from a staffing standpoint, but there have been times that i have awakened feeling ill and would not have had time to call in before the deadline. conversely do you wake up and know that you are going to be too sick to work at 3am? this is essentially what they are asking nightshifters to do. this is another way that they can encourage people to work sick because now they will be in trouble if they do not know that they are going to wake up sick

if i'm sick enough to stay home from work, i'm usually awake and miserable at 3 am. or 3pm as the case may be. there have been a couple of exceptions, but by and large, if i'm that sick, i can't sleep.

[bethin]

if i'm sick enough to stay home from work, i'm usually awake and miserable at 3 am. or 3pm as the case may be. there have been a couple of exceptions, but by and large, if i'm that sick, i can't sleep.

same here. if i know i'm having crohn's exac., then there's no sleeping. and if i'm taking pain meds and phenergan to get relief i know that i can't work. when i worked days, i would call in at 10p. i just knew that the only way to feel better was rest, nausea and pain meds. and by calling in early, i figured that gave management enough time to find a replacement and that replacement would still get a good nights rest.

now, if you wake up and suddenly are ill then you need to talk to your nm. this has happened before on our floor, and they're pretty understanding of this situation.

[eldragon]

I worked in a Las Vegas casino union job for a decade, and anything short of 4 hours was a write-up. It makes sense to me.

I think 2 hours is a break.

[JB2007, ASN, RN]

I believe the policy at my facility is 2 hour notice regardless of the shift. However, I tend to give them at least 8 hours of notice. I have been stuck trying to find a replacement on short notice for the next shift way too many times.