Published Mar 19, 2004
allsmiles
26 Posts
since the bill passed congress, the department of labor will now be able to change the status of various job descriptions from non-exempt to exempt. nurses are targeted for this change as well. :stone
from what i understand, that means that employers can then implement mandatory overtime without compensating employees at 1 1/2 times their regular hourly wage because employees would officially be paid on a salary basis. :angryfire
anyone heard of any labor policy changes coming to their state or workplace at the end of march 2004? :uhoh21:
VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN
22 Articles; 9,996 Posts
This is the one thing that, if you can't think of another reason to get rid of Bush this fall, should make everyone who earns less than $65,000/year think seriously about doing exactly that.
Luckily for me personally, I work in a hospital which is totally unionized, and my union will accept a contract that eliminates OT pay around the same time that elephants begin roosting in trees. 'Nuff said for now. :stone
kwagner_51
592 Posts
We still have the power to override this crap. How? Contact your STATE Senators and Reps. I didn't know until about a week ago, that the States DO NOT have to obey the Dept. of Labor.
Each State can set their own rules for Min. wage and OT. Off the top of my head, I can't remember which State passed a bill saying that all hourly workers would still be paid OT.
What the States can't do is, disregard the min. wage, but they can INCREASE the min. wage.And they can also override the d*/-+@ overtime law. But WE have to do our part and LET them know that we can't live w/o OT.
PLEASE contact your State Reps and let them know how you feel about OT. You might also let them know just how dangerous Nursing has become. Every State CAN have Nurse to patient Ratios, but we MUST inform our reps on the problems facing Nurses.
May we all work together to put an end to patient endangerment!!
teeituptom, BSN, RN
4,283 Posts
It wont happen in nursing
mattsmom81
4,516 Posts
My CEO has emailed all employees promising he will never NOT pay us OT. We will see if he keeps his promise. I think he will. We have enough trouble getting and keeping nurses and he would be shooting himself in the foot to deny OT pay, he says.