Why do we not get paid for lunch even if we never get to take one?

Nurses General Nursing

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Why do I work from 7-7:30 (12.5 hours) but only get paid for 12? This happens EVERY shift, not just once in a while. They say it's our responsibility to take a lunch but it's almost never possible. Some shifts I don't even get to pee and do my charting standing up during a spare minute between tasks. If we have 2 RNs for 14 patients on a busy med-surg floor with frequent admits and discharges, when IS there time for a break?!

And how is it ok that you're required to show up for a 5 hour morning class and then come to work for another 13 hours that night? And repeat it the following day as well?

Is this the norm for the industry or do I just have a crappy job?

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

It's on you to ensure if you are not getting lunch, you are getting paid. Most time clocks have a mechanism by which you clock "no lunch". You need to do that each and every time you clock out on a day when you had no meal break. If there is no means by clock, you should see your manager or charge nurse about the punch exception log and log it there. Nobody should work for free.

If this is an everyday problem, for the majority of people, it points to crappy staffing that needs to be addressed.

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Specializes in Critical Care & Acute Care.

One of the few and I mean really few perks of working for a union hospital was paid lunch, but if you really do not get your lunch you should make sure your manger knows.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I do not think it is common for employers to pay you for unproductive time (lunch). However, there should be a mechanism where you claim the time if you had to work thru lunch. Ask HR or payroll dept.

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Consult and attorney

In Texas the new money maker for lawyers is for full time employees who are salary and working over 40 hours per week, and not getting paid. Gold mine here for lawyers

I would think this would fall into the same category, and remember most lawyers provide first consultation for free.

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It's a sticky situation, because while we all know that it's nearly impossible to take an undisturbed lunch break when you're a floor nurse, they are required to offer you one (and you are entitled to take it).

I have worked places that had a system in place in which you could fill out a 'variance report'; essentially a paper stating you could not take the "offered" lunch break because of workload, no relief available, etc. THING is, though, that frequent use of this system would guarantee you a meeting with the Nurse Manager, who would inform you that you had poor time management skills and you needed to improve on that (prior to your next evaluation, of course). Double-edged sword: you could get paid for the time, BUT you'd be on the losing end of that eval, believe you me.

Unions are good for handling this, as well as a good NM. But unless you have one or the other.....it's a rough spot to be in.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Don't think it's quite time to consult a lawyer! Try the suggestions you have already received, first. If you have a union and this problem is persistent, contact them. Work is PAID, period.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

if one person is filing variances, but everyone else is able to take a break, that looks suspicious. But if everyone is filing variances then there is reason to believe the staff mix is too low.

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if one person is filing variances, but everyone else is able to take a break, that looks suspicious. But if everyone is filing variances then there is reason to believe the staff mix is too low.

FWIW, I could NEVER convince everyone on a shift to file the variance. There were just too many people who were scared to attract attention to their "poor time management". :madface:

Some were just not "rock the boat" kind of people, you name it, they had a reason for not doing it. In the end it screws EVERYONE, because unless everyone participates, it's just one or two people who are the 'problem'. :(

On the flip side, I used to work with a nurse who would declare it was her break time, and walk off the floor. Charge couldn't do anything because she WAS entitled to a break, and since none could be officially scheduled (too many variables in patient load on off-shifts) there wasn't much to do. Except have the nursing supervisor talk to her about breaking only when there was sufficient coverage, but we all knew what a crock THAT was. So....she took her breaks but we all were KILLING ourselves trying to cover those 30 minutes. And, yes, she got paid back FULLY by having no one available to help her at other times, and sometimes her meds were late or missed. Nice? No. But sometimes it gets ugly when only one person takes a lunch..... and everyone else is tired of covering. I can tell you that at one point, she DID stop that, finally, when it became clear to her she was VERY unpopular to work with!

Rock and a hard place. Entitled to lunch, but not entitled to screw over everyone else AND the patients. Just....not pretty

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

In every job I've had, I got paid for lunch if I didn't take it. Mind you, sometimes I had to fill out a notification slip and/or notify the supervisor if I wanted to get paid. I rarely had an issue because the days I did it were the days where I was the only RN on the floor, and I told the supervisor that since I had no one to relieve me and I didn't want to get dinged on abandonment charges, that she/he had to provide the replacement or I will skip lunch.

At one of my current facilities (union), if I don't take a full 30 minute lunch, I get paid an hour's salary. So this facility is very good about making sure we get our lunch breaks.

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According to your state's labor laws, your employer is most likely not required to pay for a half hour lunch. It is your responsibility to ensure that you get this lunch. Since this is not happening, your next step is to visit the Labor Board to file a complaint, the step after that is to visit a labor law attorney to straighten this out.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

PP advice is on target, In the US, Federal labor laws require payment for time worked.... unless you are "salaried". If you are unable to take a lunch break, you need to take appropriate actions to ensure that you are paid for that time. Otherwise, the employer can just claim that they did not know.... kind of like sexual harassment - LOL - you have to make your position known before you can expect a response. There's probably an organizational policy that covers this, so you may want to become familiar with it. Make sure that you are doing your part - if you feel that you are unable to take a lunch break, always notify your charge nurse to see if s/he can arrange coverage. Explicitly tell him/her that you will be filing a variance to be paid for lunch if you are unable to leave.

FWIW, this particular issue has caused so many problems in healthcare over the last few years that most large employers in my part of the country now require employees to clock out for lunch rather than taking an automatic deduction. I know of a couple of hospitals that were subjected to federal audits that lasted > 12 months... and resulted in huge fines & payouts to the affected employees.

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