What does At-Will mean to a working nurse? These are important labor terms to understand, and they vary state-to-state but still not sure what it all means to me.

Ashley moved to Texas from Illinois to take a job in a surgical ICU. It was a challenging transition from her previous job in a StepDown unit, but Ashley welcomed the change. Halfway into her orientation, Ashley was called into her manager's office and terminated without warning. Ashley's preceptor had complained that she was "just not cutting it". Ashley was devastated as her preceptor had not given her any constructive feedback, and Ashley had thought she was doing fine. Driving home in the middle of the day, Ashley called her husband, who was still in Illinois selling their house, "I thought this was going to be my dream job but instead it's a nightmare. I feel like such a failure, but they didn't really give me a fair chance. Can they really do this to me?” The answer is Yes. Ashley has no legal basis to dispute her termination, and it's not just because she was in orientation. It could have happened at any point in her employment. Here's some things nurses need to know about labor laws, and the difference between At-Will employment and Right-To-Work. These two terms are often misunderstood. At-Will Employment It's important to understand at-will employment. The vast majority of states have at-will employment, which means the employer or the employee can sever the relationship at any time with or without cause and with or without notice. Most employees work under an at-will arrangement, whether they know it or not. States who do not have at-will employment include: Georgia Louisiana Nebraska New York Rhode Island Like most nurses, Ashley is an At-Will employee. There are exceptions to At-Will employment, and that is when there is a contractual agreement with the employer. Usually this takes the form of a union contract. Even in Texas or any other At-Will employment state, the union contract regarding discipline and termination must be followed. Likewise, employers are held to their own policies. Most smart employers know they have nothing to gain by firing employees arbitrarily and have written policies. So if the employee handbook states that employees must be given warning, or follow progressive discipline, or have just cause, they must follow their own policies. Illegal Reasons for Termination Even in At-Will states, there are illegal reasons for termination. Federal law trumps state laws and prevents employees from being discriminated against for national origin, race, gender, age, disability, or pregnancy. Right-to-Work Right-To-Work has nothing to do with whether you can be fired for performance. Right-to-work means the employee does not have to join a union when hired into a facility with a unionized workforce. It's the employee's right to choose whether or not to join the union. They are entitled to work, hence "Right-To-Work". The opposite of Right-To-Work states are Forced Unionism states. Jonathan lives in Florida and was hired by a hospital where the nurses are unionized, but his parents are anti-union and he has mixed feelings about belonging to a union. Since he lives in a Right-To-Work state, he cannot be forced to join the union, go out on strike, or pay union dues. He is, however, part of the bargaining unit and is entitled to union representation as part of the bargaining unit. About half of the states are Right-To-Work states. Check here to see if your state is a Right-To-Work state or not. For example, Texas is a Right-To-Work state and its labor code states "A person may not be denied employment based on membership or nonmembership in a labor union. (Enacted 1993.) and "The right to work is the right to live". By contrast, if Jonathan was hired by a hospital in a Non-Right-To-Work state, such as California, under the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, he would not have a choice, and would have to join the union, pay dues and go out on strike if need be. This is called a "union shop" whereby employees must join the union within a designated number of days after hire, and must maintain their union membership for the length of their employment. Critics of Right-To-Work argue that all employees should have to join the union and pay dues, as a union contract benefits all employees, union member or not. Unions, such as the AFL-CIO, are anti right-to-work laws and lobby against them. Summary At-Will means an employee can be fired without reason. The majority of states are At-Will states, and while most employers have policies around discipline and termination, state law in At-Will states does not ensure termination for cause. Right-To-Work means employees do not have to join a union when working in a unionized workforce. Approximately half of the states are Right-To-Work states. I hope this helped your understanding of your rights, and be sure and check out your state laws regarding Right-To-Work and At-Will. Nurse Beth Author, "Your Last Nursing Class: How to Land Your First Nursing Job"...and your next!

What's the Difference Between Right-To-Work and At-Will employment?

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lifeatthebluffs, BSN, RN

33 Posts

21 hours ago, 2Ask said:
Apparently the ruling applies to private hospitals as well .
I started working at one of the private California hospital systems you mentioned post Jorifice and I did not have to join the union nor sign up for payroll deduction for union fees. The admin provided clear guidance on the procedures to opt out.

Depending on which system it is, I believe this predates Jorifice and is dependent on the particular contract between the union and the hospital. Some are "closed shop," where you have to either join or pay the "fair-share" dues, but others are open shop where you do not have to do either. I know of a few private systems who were open-shop pre-Jorifice and continue to be, so unless it was closed shop and is now open I don't think Jorifice was a part of that.

21 hours ago, 2Ask said:
See above- private unionized Cali hospital- do not have to join union.
The hospital accepts Medicare and Medicaid. Perhaps that is why we are counted among the public servants who are given a choice about whether we want to support the union or not?

Not sure this is a Jorifice thing, but you may a good point about Medicare/Medicaid. One day when I'm really bored I'm going to actually have read the decision and see exactly what it says, because receiving those funds definitely changes things (ie, is part of why we having a policy saying no marijuana in the hospital, although I very much doubt it's the only reason).

21 hours ago, Stephhsrperrn said:
I am not certain this is true for several reasons:
1) hospital admin would have been certain to notify employees of their “right” to opt out especially during contract negotiations.
2) is your Hospital a not for profit? Or university healthcare system?
3) are you sure by “opt out” they meant the union or merely opt out of payroll deduction.
Thanks, I am definitely looking into this more.

1) This happened at the health system I work at immediately post Jorifice, and union members re-signed their commitment to the union because the previous commitment was signed "under duress."

2) I'm at a University of California hospital, so a public/government non-profit system.

3) I don't know if we even have a choice to opt-out of payroll deduction--I guess we probably do, but I haven't looked into it. Pre-Jorifice at UCs, you either were a union member and paid union dues, or paid "fair-share" dues, which were about 90% of the union dues. Now, you either are a union member and pay union dues or you are not and you pay nothing.

Same here! I'm especially curious of long-term implications because I have not noticed a huge difference so far post-Jorifice. The union contract for UC nurses was settled and ratified post-Jorifice and it's still a pretty good contract (from my perspective). I can't recall any big things that UC wanted to takeaway that they actually ended up succeeding in taking away in the contact. It'll be interesting to see how this all progresses.

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Wuzzie

5,238 Posts

On 4/10/2019 at 12:01 PM, wondern said:
Tennessee is an At-Will state.

While I completely agree with unionizing nursing which is the stuff of nightmares for corporate healthcare aren't you from Texas?

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2Ask

107 Posts

On 4/11/2019 at 12:57 PM, Stephhsrperrn said:
The Jorifice decision only affected public service NOT private. So unless your hospital is government affiliated you were not affected by the Jorifice decision, YET!

See above- private unionized Cali hospital- do not have to join union.

The hospital accepts Medicare and Medicaid. Perhaps that is why we are counted among the public servants who are given a choice about whether we want to support the union or not?

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2Ask

107 Posts

lifeatthebluffs said:

Depending on which system it is, I believe this predates Jorifice and is dependent on the particular contract between the union and the hospital. Some are "closed shop," where you have to either join or pay the "fair-share" dues, but others are open shop where you do not have to do either. I know of a few private systems who were open-shop pre-Jorifice and continue to be, so unless it was closed shop and is now open I don't think Jorifice was a part of that.

Yes, you are right about that. I found online that we have an open shop and in 2016 only about 53% of RN's have union fees deducted from their paychecks. Not sure if that statistic includes RN management who do not qualify for the union? But I know that staff nurses have the choice to opt out of payroll deductions within a very strict 5 day timeframe.

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