I was hired at my mother's work through connections as a RN. It is a subacute/rehab facility. During the "interview", I was not asked any nursing interview questions and was told about what the Director of Nursing was looking for, how she feels about hiring new grads, how new grads leave after a few months costing her time & investment, the recent creation of a nursing contract this January, her anecdote of how much she paid to breech her contract, and to sign the contract and the rest of the papers. I was not told what the penalty would be if I broke it, nor does it say what the penalty is on the contract.
All the contract says is: "[Header: the institution name, motto] [Title] CONTRACT AGREEMENT [body] I, [KitKat, RN], agree to sign up for a two-year contract with the [institution] as a Full-time Registred Nurse. [New body] This letter will serve as a binding agreement that I fully understand that I will be an employee at the "institution" for at least 2 years, unless I am subject for termination. [My signature] [DON's signature] [bLANK administrator signature because no person was present] and a [bLANK witness signature because there was no witness present either]"
I am displeased because I do not feel I was given quality training during my orientation. Also, out of my 3 weeks of orientation I was told during the interview that I will only be paid for 5 days, so the rest of orientation for up to 1 month of orientation there is no pay. The DON asked for personal recommendations of other RNs I know, so I recommended my classmate who is about in her mid-50s and she discriminated her age and told me not to recommend "people older than [her]" because she might not be able to do all the kinds of work needed in this facility.
As each day passes that I work here, I begin to feel more and more disloyal to this company. I wish that I did not feel intimidated to sign the contract, and wished that I asked questions to clarify all the details of this contract. I've never been in such a predicament before or known someone who has been. I was also told by a friend that a contract should be notarized and that at the signing of a contract, I should be given "adequate consideration" providing the prospective employee with something of adequate value in order for the contract to be enforced e.g. specialized training or a bonus, but I was not given anything. This is a subacute/rehab facility that does not provide any special training in a critical or special unit which I think are usually found in hospitals.
I was accepted into a bachelors of nursing program and I believe that I will be able to be considered for hospitals and do not plan of staying here for 2 years, but to gain experience for at most 1 year. I would like to find out if this contract is defunct which will allow me to leave whenever I please without having to pay out a "breech of contract" penalty fee.
Hello, I'm sorry, do you mean order a complaint to the DON? Please clarify, I would really like to gather as much views & opinions as I can to educate myself more on this.
I think it's Department of Labor. Labor laws likely wouldn't support the company orienting you without paying you. It sounds sneaky and unprofessional, just like your contract. However, your starting pay isn't half-bad. Best wishes to you.
Just thinking about that early unpaid orientation period. Wonder what would happen if an investigation or lawsuit were to arise for something from that period? I'd bet dollars to donuts that the facility would claim that the OP was NOT an employee because 'said employee was not paid'. I could then see the facility leaving OP hung out to dry ('thrown under the bus', a 'sacrificial lamb', etc)
I don't think something like that would truly hold up legally absolving the facility of any liability. But they would sure be giving it a try!!!
I'd bet they're just being cheapo, but Dept of Labor might be interested. And if that turn out to be an illegal practice, the place might be retroactively responsible to any & all other employees that were bamboozled.
(I find it really hard to think that Corporate legal eagles would sanction such a practice - but then maybe it didn't go past Leagl Dept and it is just the brainchild of the Admin/DON.)
To OP - I would STRONGLY hope that you have your own malpractice insuranceas your place doesn't sound too employee-supportive.
I was hired at my mother's work through connections as a RN. It is a subacute/rehab facility. During the "interview", I was not asked any nursing interview questions and was told about what the Director of Nursing was looking for, how she feels about hiring new grads, how new grads leave after a few months costing her time & investment, the recent creation of a nursing contract this January, her anecdote of how much she paid to breech her contract, and to sign the contract and the rest of the papers. I was not told what the penalty would be if I broke it, nor does it say what the penalty is on the contract.
All the contract says is: "[Header: the institution name, motto] [Title] CONTRACT AGREEMENT [body] I, [KitKat, RN], agree to sign up for a two-year contract with the [institution] as a Full-time Registred Nurse. [New body] This letter will serve as a binding agreement that I fully understand that I will be an employee at the "institution" for at least 2 years, unless I am subject for termination. [My signature] [DON's signature] [bLANK administrator signature because no person was present] and a [bLANK witness signature because there was no witness present either]"
I am displeased because I do not feel I was given quality training during my orientation. Also, out of my 3 weeks of orientation I was told during the interview that I will only be paid for 5 days, so the rest of orientation for up to 1 month of orientation there is no pay. The DON asked for personal recommendations of other RNs I know, so I recommended my classmate who is about in her mid-50s and she discriminated her age and told me not to recommend "people older than [her]" because she might not be able to do all the kinds of work needed in this facility.
As each day passes that I work here, I begin to feel more and more disloyal to this company. I wish that I did not feel intimidated to sign the contract, and wished that I asked questions to clarify all the details of this contract. I've never been in such a predicament before or known someone who has been. I was also told by a friend that a contract should be notarized and that at the signing of a contract, I should be given "adequate consideration" providing the prospective employee with something of adequate value in order for the contract to be enforced e.g. specialized training or a bonus, but I was not given anything. This is a subacute/rehab facility that does not provide any special training in a critical or special unit which I think are usually found in hospitals.
I was accepted into a bachelors of nursing program and I believe that I will be able to be considered for hospitals and do not plan of staying here for 2 years, but to gain experience for at most 1 year. I would like to find out if this contract is defunct which will allow me to leave whenever I please without having to pay out a "breech of contract" penalty fee.
Please kindly advise, thank you for your time.
If the contract doesn't state the penalty, then legally, THERE IS NO PENALTY.
Also, call the Labor Board if they do not pay you for orientation. They will make sure that you do.
I guarantee that wasn't written anywhere in there either.
Many people incorrectly think that just because you sign something, that automatically makes it legally binding, it does not. If what you are signing is not legal by law or statute, it isn't worth the paper that it is written on.
Good luck with this mess. For future reference you do not have to sign anything then and there. You should be allowed to think it over first. Also that is a very vague contract. It should have clarified what penalty would be involved, what the hire date is, etc.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
It depends on what state you are in and the contract laws in that state. You need to have an attorney look at the contract.
In every job I have had as a nurse when presented with an offer or contract i simply say " I'll have to have my attorney look at this and will get back to you within X days." I happen to have a contract attorney in my family which helps. An attorney will be able to tell you if a contract is enforceable.
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
Slavery is illegal. You can quit your job. No contract can force you to stay at your job. There is no legitimacy in you having to pay someone to leave your job. That is completely un-enforceable. You can't sign away your basic human rights.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Slavery is illegal. You can quit your job. No contract can force you to stay at your job. There is no legitimacy in you having to pay someone to leave your job. That is completely un-enforceable. You can't sign away your basic human rights.
The contract is not forcing anything. It's not slavery. And contracts that require a minimum employment period or else the employee has to pay a "penalty" ARE legal. But since the penalty is not spelled out in the contract, I'm guessing it's unenforceable as someone else said.
I think you should file a complaint with the Dept of Labor as not paying someone for orientation is most likely illegal and they will be forced to pay out back pay for you and anyone else they did this too!
Scroll about halfway down--you'll find that training required for your job is considered time worked, and is therefore compensated. Fact Sheet - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor You need to show this to the payroll dept. and advise them that you will be contacting the DOL if you are not paid. It doesn't matter if the other nurses told you "Yeah, that's how it is..," it's still an illegal practice, per the DOL
OP, I want to point out that you signed a contract where you are obligated to them for two years, but they have nno obligation to you- they can fire you anytime. A contract should have obligations on both sides, and it should spell out consequences if the obligations aren't met.
I got a cell phone contract like that once...they could change the rates and coverage areas anytime they wanted, or discontinue service altogether, and I'd still be obligated to pay the monthly fee. the salesman said "but that's not going to happen" Well, whyy was it in the contract? Read your contracts, know your obligations, and make sure you get their obligations in writing too, like length of orientation!
Yes, absolutely go with the advice to contact the DOL. I don't see how that contract is enforcable in any way from what you've shared.
It does provide an answer to something I'd wondered about for many years now. There used to be a program here where one of the local community colleges teamed up with a local hospital to offer a nursing program. The cost for that program was paid in a required contract. The program lasted a few years, and then disappeared. I knew two people who obtained an ASN using this program, but then got out of paying the costs when they breached contract and quit the hospital. As shady as that was on their part, I'd wondered how that was possible.
Reading what you've shared sheds some light on that.
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Kit.Kat
27 Posts
Hello, I'm sorry, do you mean order a complaint to the DON? Please clarify, I would really like to gather as much views & opinions as I can to educate myself more on this.