Congress Fails to Act on Rule to Block Overtime Pay; ANA Vows to Continue Battle
1/28/04
The Department of Labor (DOL) will implement a controversial final rule to change overtime provisions outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) by the end of March after the Senate failed to maintain language prohibiting the rule in its final 2004 omnibus appropriations bill, which passed on Jan. 22. ANA has vowed to continue fighting the new rule and will work with Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) who said he plans to attach an amendment aimed at blocking it onto future legislation.
Citing concerns about the negative impact on nurses as well as their patients, Patricia J. Hefner, RN, C, and Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) member, testified on behalf of ANA against the final rule at a packed Senate subcommittee hearing on Jan. 20.
ANA and its constituent members have been outspoken opponents of the proposed revisions, citing concerns about the impact on nurses as well as their patients. ANA believes that under the new rules, employers would increase the dangerous practice of forced overtime for nurses since they would not be required to compensate them at time-and-a-half. In addition, such changes would further erode nurses' working conditions, exacerbating an already growing shortage of nurses.
Everone needs to support their nurses association. If you want to have your rights protected you need to be involved. Write to your congressmen, senators and send a fax to Bush (they have put a block on e-mails: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/faxbush4ot/e75e4zb8en8
Nurses have a powerful voice. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes and use it! :rotfl:
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.
Thanks Sekar..... I been having to wear them a lot lately. :chuckle
Fact Sheet #17N: Nurses and the Part 541 Exemptions Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hour worked and overtime pay at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. However, Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. Section 13(a)(1) and Section 13(a)(17) also exempts certain computer employees. To qualify for exemption, employees must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 per week.
Nurses
To qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:
The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week;
The employee's primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment;
The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and
The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.
Registered nurses who are paid on an hourly basis should receive overtime pay.
However, registered nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption, and if paid on a salary basis of at least $455 per week, may be classified as exempt.
Licensed practical nurses and other similar health care employees, however, generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals, regardless of work experience and training, because possession of a specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into such occupations, and are entitled to overtime pay.
Fact Sheet #17N: Nurses and the Part 541 Exemptions Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hour worked and overtime pay at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. However, Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. Section 13(a)(1) and Section 13(a)(17) also exempts certain computer employees. To qualify for exemption, employees must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 per week.
Nurses
To qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:
The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week;
The employee's primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment;
The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and
The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.
Registered nurses who are paid on an hourly basis should receive overtime pay.
However, registered nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption, and if paid on a salary basis of at least $455 per week, may be classified as exempt.
Licensed practical nurses and other similar health care employees, however, generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals, regardless of work experience and training, because possession of a specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into such occupations, and are entitled to overtime pay.
Watch out! We have facts posted here! This is intolerable. Who allowed the facts to be posted? Where is the hype? Where is the fear? Where is the propaganda? :chuckle
There are the facts folks, read them and be at ease. Your overtime pay is safe.
From the DOL, "However, registered nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board generally meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption, and if paid on a salary basis of at least $455 per week, may be classified as exempt."
I am too tired after a 12 hour shift to be safe. By 9:00 am I am spinning my wheels.
I doubt my hospital will try this now, but who knows? When i first worked as a nurse being sent home early after a patient death (low census) didn't happen.
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.
I overwhelmed by all the "facts" in your post. Rush Limbaugh would be proud of you.
How can someone read that & say it proves "our overtime is safe"? The statement above clearly states that RNs would be exempt from getting any overtime pay. That means if you are an RN, your overtime pay is not safe. Being exempt from the overtime regulation means you would no longer be eligible for any overtime pay.
more facts:
Message from NY State Senator H. Clinton
protect overtime for every worker who is currently eligible. I have
been a strong supporter of the effort to protect overtime pay, and I
am gratified that today the Senate acted to do the right thing.
Below is my statement from the Congressional Record on this
important piece of legislation.
"I rise today in strong support of the Harkin amendment because I
believe it is the right thing to do for New York's working families.
The Harkin amendment is very simple. It says that not a single
worker who is currently eligible for overtime pay should be denied
that right. And I have yet to hear a compelling reason that some
workers currently eligible for overtime should lose that eligibility.
In fact, the Department of Labor argues emphatically that few if
any workers will actually lose eligibility. Well, if few if any
workers will lose overtime eligibility then I see no reason why the
Department of Labor shouldn't support the Harkin amendment
wholeheartedly.
Of course, the reality, as those at the Department of Labor well
know, is that plenty of workers will lose eligibility for overtime.
Let's look at the facts:
Registered nurses will be in danger of
losing their eligibility because, for the first time, it will be easier to
classify those who are paid hourly as "salaried employees." It will
also be easier to classify them as "team leaders."
Journalists will
lose their automatic overtime protection.
Veterans who do not
have a four-year degree will be much more easily classified as
professional employees and denied overtime eligibility.
Workers in the financial services industry - and I represent many of them -
will lose their overtime protection if they do not exercise
independent judgment and discretion.
Chefs. Funeral Directors. Embalmers. Insurance Claims Adjusters. Salespeople. Software engineers. Computer programmers. All will be vulnerable to the loss of overtime - and therefore face significant pay cuts.
The list goes on and on and on. And these are just the
consequences analysts can foresee.
What does the loss of
overtime mean? Let's put it in human terms. It's a 25 percent pay
cut. It's $161 a week on average. And - as importantly - it's time
with your family. This is not trivial. At its very core, this issue is
about our American values of work and family.
Workers stripped
of their overtime protection would end up working longer hours for
less pay. That translates into less time with their children, less
time with their parents, their spouses, less time to volunteer and
contribute to the fabric of our community. More work hours, for
less pay, and less family time - that is not the American way.
This regulation would make unpaid overtime a household word
and make it easier for bad-faith employers to coerce other workers
into accepting time off instead of overtime pay.
Now, I know there is strong support in this chamber to protect the
rights of workers to receive overtime because we've done it before.
Back in September, we passed a very similar amendment to
prevent the Department of Labor from promulgating any
amendment that denied overtime from any worker currently
eligible. Republicans in my state crossed party lines to block this
regulation in the House - and I applaud them for doing so. They
know how many New Yorkers rely on overtime pay - not as a
luxury, as a necessity.
Back then, despite strong bi-partisan votes in the House and
Senate, the extremist right wing leaders in the House and Senate
neglected to include the language in the final appropriations bill.
They made a mockery of the democratic process.
But with this vote today we prove that we will keep fighting for the
rights of working people. We may be overruled - as we were
before - but we will not back down.
So, I urge my colleagues to support the Harkin and to reject the
Bush Administration economic policy of tax cuts for the wealthy;
This is intolerable. Who allowed the facts to be posted? Where is the hype? Where is the fear? Where is the propaganda? :chuckle 
Jaaaman
73 Posts
Thanks Sekar..... I been having to wear them a lot lately. :chuckle