Staying late, not getting paid.

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I am a new grad and I just started my very first job at a skilled nursing facility. The place is nice and my co-wokrers are wonderful. But, I am greatly concerned. Management is on a mission to have zero overtime and is constantly on nurses to clock out on time. But these nurses don't have enough time during the 8 hour shift to do their med pass, chart and fill out all the paperwork from the day. So they end up clocking out when their shift is over with and staying unpaid to finish all of their tasks for 2-3 hours. I am not comfortable doing that. Am I being naive here? Is this the norm?

If you think that you manager is not keeping a running list of your so called infractions, in order to justify firing you, you are sadly mistaken.

THEY are keeping tabs on YOU!

You would probably be shocked to see what is in you employee file.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I would encourage you to speak with a knowledgable attorney about whistleblower protections.

And again you don't have to blow the whistle yourself. A third party complaint is available to everyone when it comes to these laws.

Last year the company I worked for as an RN came under Federal Invesitigation for Medicare Fraud and resident abuse. When they asked me to commit fraudulent chartings and make fraudulent statements to the investigators and I refused they let me go under "At Will Employment". I spoke to the Labor department they said they couldn't help me. I also spoke to about ten different employment attornies who said "Whistleblower did not apply and because the termination was "At Will" wrongful termination did not apply. I ultimately just moved on.

Hppy

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
I don't know how many nurses participating in this thread actually work LTC. It's a whole different animal than Acute care where nurse may have 8 patients.(which is also a lot but not 15 to 18)

Actually I have, and I agree it's a different animal. But I didn't work for free there either. ;)

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
lindarn- I really don't see a written record by a single person as being enough in the courtroom. I could write down that the manager said anything I want, whether it was said or not. It will still end up being an issue of he/she said. It would take a concerted effort by the majority of staff to make that work.

I wonder what would happen, when asked to work off the clock, nurses asked to have that request in writing? Hey if it's legal and okay to do, manager should be willing to stand by her instructions with official written documentation, right (as opposed to a notebook kept by the staff nurse and validated by nobody)? :whistling:

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Specializes in kids.

Here is a different perspective......some folks just cannot gets their stuff together and out on time. In the LTC the facility I work at, we are way below census (private pay). One nurse ( one nurse only) CANNOT get out on time. EVER. I have no idea how she is still employed. I have no idea what she is doing all day either. I have worked both halls med carts, taken care of treatments, toileted, transferred etc. Without issue. Do we all have a bad shift? Absolutely!!! I am talking about a true inability to get herself organized....very frustrating to work after.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
Actually I have, and I agree it's a different animal. But I didn't work for free there either. ;)

I refuse to work for free as well. I keep my overtime to a bare minimum and if I stay over I call my supervisor on her cel phone first and if I am asked to come in early to finish something from a previous shift I always state that I will be clocking in when I get there.

Hppy

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Sorry to

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Specializes in Management, Med/Surg, Clinical Trainer.
Here is a different perspective......some folks just cannot gets their stuff together and out on time. In the LTC the facility I work at, we are way below census (private pay). One nurse ( one nurse only) CANNOT get out on time. EVER. I have no idea how she is still employed. I have no idea what she is doing all day either. I have worked both halls med carts, taken care of treatments, toileted, transferred etc. Without issue. Do we all have a bad shift? Absolutely!!! I am talking about a true inability to get herself organized....very frustrating to work after.

I agree we should be looking at both sides of this. It is easy to say don't work for free or quit your job but that could leave the patient with out care and you without a job.

There are going to some folks on the floors who will not get out on time no matter how few patients they have. That is just the way it is.

It is up to management to look at those folks and give them training to speed them up or get them out the door. After that they can focus on why the hard workers on the floor cannot get out on time. What are the issues? bad charting system, need the CNA to pick up some tasks etc

As I stated back on page 2, if there are several nurses not getting out on time band together and tabulate what is happening and why; then go to Management with solutions to fix the problem.

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Specializes in kids.

She is a clinically sound nurse. She just gets caught up in "stuff"....not sure that I have figured out what her stuff is. LOL!

It is is not a systems issue as we all are all able to get out at a reasonable time (most times, we all have those days when the poop hits the fan). She says she has been spoken to..... Just frustrating to be the one who puts a kick in her step to get things going at a pace that is healthy for everyone, and get out on time, with my work done well and my residents and LNAs happy!

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Specializes in Psych.

No, No, No!!!! Never work for free! Unless your volunteering somewhere. I clock in when I get there and clock out when I finish, period. What if something happens on the unit while your clocked out, and you find yourself in litigation. You think there going to have your back? I don't think so. That is clearly a managerial problem, if they can't fix it then they pay for it. My employers pay for my services regardless of how long I stay. That's just business. I don't have a problem walking in my supervisors office and confronting issues. Take a stand, you've worked to hard to get where you are. Doing this will earn respect from supervisors and they won't walk over you. When I clock out I go home, my supervisors clearly understand this.

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If you are an hourly employee then you need to be paid for all the time that you have worked. This is illegal. Does it happen a lot? Yes. But it's illegal. I'm sure your employer would deny it if they were asked and would NEVER put it in writing that you had to clock out and finish your work on your "own" time. They need to hire the appropriate staffing to get everything done. One nurse always not being able to finish is a time management issue. All of the nurses staying late, there's a staffing problem that needs to be addressed.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

If I am working, I am on the clock. If something untoward happens to you or a patient, you not covered. Even if you have , they likely will not cover you, being off the clock, because you are not supposed to be there. Also, if you become injured, good luck getting the medical costs covered, and getting paid (sick) leave of absence. The company can literally brush it off, saying you were not covered, again due to being off the clock. I had a friend injured at work, unexpected fall. Was off the clock. Both the company and her own insurance gave her a lot of grief over paying medical costs and since she injured her back, she was out, without sick leave or pay, for weeks. So not good.

NEVER EVER work off the clock!!!!

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