Taking away your Time and a Half!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Feb 1, 2004

Been there, done that.......the dude doesn't give a damn. The only way to send Bush a message he can't ignore is to vote him the hell out of office this November.

Katnip, RN · Feb 1, 2004

Unfortunately, it won't undo the bill/law.

nekhismom · Feb 2, 2004

Hopefully the next pres will overturn the bill/law when he takes office. This whole overtime situation is ridiculous. So we gotta take action and, in the words of teeituptom, "IMPEACH BUSHIE!".

well, maybe not impeach him at this point, but DEFINATELY don't re-elect him.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 2, 2004

Maybe stuff like this will wake up the lethargic eligible to VOTE finally. WE have to EFFECT change NOW.

pickledpepperRN · Feb 2, 2004

From the latest edition of Critical Care Newsline, the electronic

newsletter from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

"AACN is pleased with the funding increases for nursing programs and

continues to collaborate with the nursing community to obtain adequate

funding levels for nursing for FY 2005.

However, AACN was disappointed that

the bill dropped the provisions that would have blocked proposed Labor

Department changes to U. S. overtime rules and will continue to advocate

for other proposals to block the changes."

-jt · Feb 15, 2004

My Republican Congressman replied to my letter on this issue by telling me that I just "dont understand the bill and how good it is going to be" for me. I told him that when his mother is my pt lying in the ICU bed & I am being forced to work mandatory ot and am in my 16th hr of holding her life in my exhausted hands - all because its cheaper for the hospital to force me to stay than to have to pay for proper staffing up front - then he can explain to me again how good this is for me...... and his mother. Needless to say, he didnt respond again. :)

These guys arent listening to us. We're enlisting the help of our city council now. This is NYC - union town central. I cant wait to see the "welcome" with which tens of thousands of working people in this city will greet the upcoming Republican Presidential Convention being held here this year.

New York City, February 12, 2004 – The New York State Nurses Association today urged the New York City Council to strongly oppose the Bush administration’s changes in federal overtime regulations that will strip overtime pay from millions of workers across the country.

Testifying at a hearing of the Committee on Civil Service & Labor at City Hall, Anne Parrish, associate director of NYSNA’s Economic and General Welfare Program, and a registered nurse, forcefully condemned the regulations and said they would “contribute to job dissatisfaction, worsen the nursing shortage, and undermine patient safety.”

“Overtime pay is an essential protection for employees. It ensures that they are compensated fairly for overtime work. Expanding the number of professional workers, such as registered nurses, who are exempt from overtime protections, will eliminate the financial disincentive associated with the use of overtime,” Parrish said, “and could increase the already excessive use of mandatory overtime as a staffing strategy in health care institutions.

“This is what the changes will likely mean for registered nurses: longer hours, less pay, and increased use of mandatory overtime, a form of indentured servitude.

“Recent research by the Institute of Medicine and the New York State Education Department confirms that mandatory overtime, and other stressful working conditions, are driving RNs from the profession and contributing significantly to the nursing shortage. Mandatory overtime also increases the risk of medical errors.

“The money that nurses are paid for overtime is not used for luxuries. Most overtime pay is used to put food on the table and clothes on the backs of our children.

“Although these changes will not affect NYSNA RNs who have negotiated overtime pay in their current collective bargaining contracts, the changes do mean that overtime pay will become one more provision that nurses will have to fight hard for at the bargaining table.

“The New York State Nurses Association strongly opposes these changes in overtime pay regulations,” Parrish continued, “and urges the City Council to take whatever steps are necessary to let President Bush and the Congress know that they are unfair and irrational. EVERYONE who is concerned about patient safety and about strengthening – NOT destroying -- our healthcare system should oppose these changes.”

NYSNA, with more than 34,000 members, is New York’s largest union and professional association for Registered Nurses. NYSNA is the only organization that exclusively represents the interests of New York State’s RNs, and is recognized nationwide as a trendsetter in improving RNs’ wages and working conditions. NYSNA works to advance the nursing profession through collective bargaining and legislative activities, and fosters high standards of nursing education and practice. It is a constituent of the American Nurses Association and of the United American Nurses, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.>>

http://www.NYSNA.org

CougRN · May 7, 2004

You may have seen news articles about the Department of Labor's recently approved changes to rules governing overtime pay. These are the first significant changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in several decades. But the changes, which take effect in mid-August, will have little or no impact on most Banner Health employees.

Written just after the Great Depression, FLSA regulations provide guidelines for deciding which positions must receive overtime pay (time and a half) for working more than 40 hours in a week. The high cost of overtime pay encouraged business owners to spread employment to more people and reduce the long hours that were common in the "sweat shops" of the period. A very limited group of employees was considered exempt from overtime pay, including executives, professionals and certain administrative staff. This year's changes require overtime pay for any full-time employee who makes less than $425 a week. The questions used to determine exempt status will be streamlined to make them less confusing.

Why won't this impact Banner Health employees? Banner Health has traditionally treated many exempt-qualified positions as non-exempt, choosing to pay them overtime despite no legal requirement to do so. For example, registered nurses have always qualified for exemption from overtime, but Banner has classified them as non-exempt, as have most other health care employers. With few exceptions, Banner employees making less than the proposed weekly earnings already qualify for overtime pay. Banner has no plans to change its employees' overtime eligibility in response to the recent FLSA revisions.

Jaaaman · May 7, 2004

Overtime Pay

Kerry's Claim: 8 million workers will lose overtime pay.

The Truth: 6.7 million workers earning less than $23,660 will have their overtime protections guaranteed. For workers in the middle, the final rule is more protective, or at least as protective, of their overtime rights than the old rule.

The "8 million" number comes from a study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank whose board includes the heads of several major labor unions and which the New York Times cites as being left leaning. It is not a serious, scientific study and includes numerous technical flaws. The study's author even admitted that the figure is inflated since it includes 1.5 million part-time workers who aren't currently eligible for overtime hours (Source: "The Facts and Fallacy Surrounding the Department of Labor's Proposed White Collar Regulations", Department of Labor, 2003 & House Education And The Workforce Committee, "Fact Sheet: Proposed DOL Regulations Protect And Ensure That Low-Income Workers Receive Overtime Pay," 7/21/03; "Would Bush Eliminate Overtime Pay for 8 Million?", FactCheck.org, 4/5/2004).

Kerry's Claim: "Blue collar" workers will lose overtime pay.

The Truth: The final regulation clearly states that "blue collar" workers are entitled to overtime pay. (Section 541.3(a))

http://www.georgewbush.com/economy/Read.aspx?ID=2459

jyoung1950 · May 7, 2004

I was watching the committee (I think it was a House committee) questioning the Labor Department and others on the specifics of the revised Labor Bill on overtime last week on Cspan.

Questions were asked specifically about Registered Nurses. As one panelist (a lawyer whose expertise is labor law) explained it, Registered Nurses have always been considered under the "learned professional" category - exempt from overtime. The difference for this would be RN's who are in the union and have contracts with the company they work for. This doesn't change with the new Labor law.

He explained that because of the severe nursing shortage, health care industries pay RN's hourly with overtime and shift differential.

You may have seen news articles about the Department of Labor's recently approved changes to rules governing overtime pay. These are the first significant changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in several decades. But the changes, which take effect in mid-August, will have little or no impact on most Banner Health employees.
Written just after the Great Depression, FLSA regulations provide guidelines for deciding which positions must receive overtime pay (time and a half) for working more than 40 hours in a week. The high cost of overtime pay encouraged business owners to spread employment to more people and reduce the long hours that were common in the "sweat shops" of the period. A very limited group of employees was considered exempt from overtime pay, including executives, professionals and certain administrative staff. This year's changes require overtime pay for any full-time employee who makes less than $425 a week. The questions used to determine exempt status will be streamlined to make them less confusing.
Why won't this impact Banner Health employees? Banner Health has traditionally treated many exempt-qualified positions as non-exempt, choosing to pay them overtime despite no legal requirement to do so. For example, registered nurses have always qualified for exemption from overtime, but Banner has classified them as non-exempt, as have most other health care employers. With few exceptions, Banner employees making less than the proposed weekly earnings already qualify for overtime pay. Banner has no plans to change its employees' overtime eligibility in response to the recent FLSA revisions.

Torachan · May 12, 2004

Only by standing together will nurses ever hope to have a voice. The public don't really know what we do. They do not know that high patient ratios increase their risks immensly, they don't know the ease at which a mistake can be made let alone by someone who hasn't had a break in 12 hours (BTW my record is 36 hours straight.. not nursing but I know what it does to a person).

Join your union. Call your politicians. Write to your paper. Get other people to write on nurses behalf, call the radio station and speak at your local college (now that is scary)

In short take action.

Sekar · May 15, 2004

Overtime Pay
Kerry's Claim: 8 million workers will lose overtime pay.
The Truth: 6.7 million workers earning less than $23,660 will have their overtime protections guaranteed. For workers in the middle, the final rule is more protective, or at least as protective, of their overtime rights than the old rule.
The "8 million" number comes from a study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank whose board includes the heads of several major labor unions and which the New York Times cites as being left leaning. It is not a serious, scientific study and includes numerous technical flaws. The study's author even admitted that the figure is inflated since it includes 1.5 million part-time workers who aren't currently eligible for overtime hours (Source: "The Facts and Fallacy Surrounding the Department of Labor's Proposed White Collar Regulations", Department of Labor, 2003 & House Education And The Workforce Committee, "Fact Sheet: Proposed DOL Regulations Protect And Ensure That Low-Income Workers Receive Overtime Pay," 7/21/03; "Would Bush Eliminate Overtime Pay for 8 Million?", FactCheck.org, 4/5/2004).
Kerry's Claim: "Blue collar" workers will lose overtime pay.
The Truth: The final regulation clearly states that "blue collar" workers are entitled to overtime pay. (Section 541.3(a))
http://www.georgewbush.com/economy/Read.aspx?ID=2459

Jaaaman, you are wasting your time. You are attempting to clear things up by posting the facts. But, you are quoting facts and the last thing the liberals on this board are interested in is facts. They dress up propaganda, half-truths, and fear as facts and tout that mess around to try and get their candidate elected. Go read the "Nurses for Bush" threads and you'll see what I'm talking about. Emotions ran rampant and the facts posted by the conservatives were generally ignored or worse, turned into personal attacks that were touted as "facts" by the liberals. Sadly the bulk of our profession appears to be made up of liberals, at least from what I see on this board. That being the case, it's no wonder we never seem to get ahead as a profession. Oh well. Wear your flak vest and Kevlar helmet, you're going to need it to protect you from the incoming liberal fire you're going to receive. I'd loan you mine, but I need them.