Travel company withholding current pay

[marleysmom]

I have worked for this company for over a year. I am on my 5th contract with them. I have been at the same hospital for all 5 contracts. Two paydays ago, my check was $400.00 short. I was told that the company was unable to collect for some shifts I worked in January, (3 contracts ago)so they would be deducting from my pay for the next several paychecks, to make up for the loss. Last week my check was $159.00. They changed my current hours to 15 less, and had a $250 deduction called a "chargeback". Can they take from my current pay for this? Without informing me first? Is it legal to change your current hours? I had Kronos timesheets for the days they couldn`t collect for. The company claims the hospital said I wasn`t on the daily schedule, so they wouldn`t pay for them. This is a huge crazy hospital, with several different temporary charge nurses etc. There are many times the schedule is not correct, but you are still expected to be there. I think the story is probably more like, they aren`t going to pay for shifts so many months ago. The company I previously worked for made sure they had everything in at the end of each month. Has anyone experienced any of this? Do you have any idea how I can stop them, I can`t afford a lawyer, I have 3 kids in college, which drains all my salary. Any advice appreciated.

[astn]

I would GUESS that they are probably fully within their rights and you have little to no recourse without the aid of a lawyer, and even with one--there may be nothing you can do.

The key to your whole problem is your employment agreement or contract. I would thoroughly review that to determine what rights and responsibilities both parties have, as that will tell you if they are allowed to deduct (they likely are,) and if you have any recourse in the event of a dispute (you likely don't.) You should also examine it to see what you are required to do for timekeeping or submitting your hours and ensure that you complied with those requirements, then see if they are able to deduct for client's nonpayment or dispute.

I would also speak to my recruiter or manager about the issue, and see if you can do anything to help them bill for those shifts. They would much rather you get paid for those hours, as they make money when you make money. The company may have determined that it's too late to do anything about, since they are already deducting from your check. If you find that out, the questions I would ask is: "How many hours were you unable to collect for?" and "how far behind in billing are you?" or "how many shifts beyond that are questionable as to whether I will be paid for them?" If they are months behind in billing, you may have a rude surprise as the hospital rejects many of your shifts.

If it's only a few shifts, it's not worth the hassle, but if you find out they are far behind in billing or there are a lot of shifts that you aren't being creditted with, you need to get a lawyer. Simply put, employment contracts or agreements are generally extremely unfriendly to the employee while giving the majority of rights and privileges to the employer. Without a lawyer (and possibly civil court or an arbitrator,) you have almost no recourse in arguing that your contract is unfair or illegal, and until you can prove that the contract is wrong, you (and they) are obligated to the terms of that contract--which likely includes them withhol.ding pay for unbillable hours.

I tried to be as succinct as possible. I hope that was a help. Good luck

Austin

[knowurjoe]

Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division... call them

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.pdf

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.wagehour.dol.gov and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

Oops- I see the post if from August. I hope the OP got her money.