Withholding Pay

Specialties Home Health

Published

I am brand new to home health and have a question for the experienced home health nurses. I started a job 5 weeks ago and should have received my first paycheck one week ago. They are withholding my paycheck because at one point I became very behind in completing paperwork. Right now I am pretty much caught up except for a few minor details. For example, they have asked that I redo an email to a physician because I did not open with " Dear Doctor.....". Is this a common practice in home health? I realize it is important to submit the paperwork within the designated time frames. I am going to check with the Texas labor board on Monday. HAs this happened to anyone else?

I have to add, I worked for an agency years ago, back in the fee for service/pre oasis days. There was a nurse who was a personal mess who would have her paycheck held because she got so far behind. Back then our visit note was a half sheet of paper, one sided. She still got weeks behind. I'm sure it wasn't legal to hold her paycheck but I could never understand how she could get so far behind. That was back in the *gravy days* of home health.

Speaking of gravy days, nurses complained about the paperwork back then. I was getting done by noon after making 5 simple visits on the same patients in a condensed area. I would literally see 3 patients in the same mobile home park doing some simple dressing change and then a couple stops a few minutes away. I was making 45K working less than 8 hrs/day back in 1990. Our rent for a house on horse property was $400/month. It was so easy back then but heck if nurses didn't complain about it.

1 Votes

Labor law or no labor law, the agencies do as they please as long as their employees don't call them on it. It is up to you to decide whether or not you are going to put up with it. If you leave an employer over illegally withheld pay, or because you don't like their policies, you can rest assured that chances are high you will find your next home health employer does the same thing. Just like how they flaunt refusing to pay legally earned overtime with phony "there was an election 20 years ago, blah, blah, blah." Sign this so we can cheat you. Do you really think employees would agree to forego legally earned overtime pay? Let's get real.

In a similar boat right now I sent in all of my paperwork, even a signed verification sheet that the parents signed with all of my times on it. Somehow my timesheet was cut off, no idea how this happened bc it's in my original files. No one at my company even made me aware that I left my "official" timesheet off, and I submitted my paperwork says before the deadline. I found out when I didn't get paid a week later. I submitted my old timesheet but no one has responded yet. I'm brand new to the company, a new nurse and wasn't trained to write notes. I've researched a bunch of pdn notes to make sure my notes are up to par but zero feedback.

19 hours ago, bellaxcrunner27 said:

In a similar boat right now I sent in all of my paperwork, even a signed verification sheet that the parents signed with all of my times on it. Somehow my timesheet was cut off, no idea how this happened bc it's in my original files. No one at my company even made me aware that I left my "official" timesheet off, and I submitted my paperwork says before the deadline. I found out when I didn't get paid a week later. I submitted my old timesheet but no one has responded yet. I'm brand new to the company, a new nurse and wasn't trained to write notes. I've researched a bunch of pdn notes to make sure my notes are up to par but zero feedback.

You need to call the agency and speak to the person who handles payroll to straighten this out. That counts as your employer contact should you be forced to file a wages owed claim with the Labor Board. Quality of your nurses notes has nothing to do with the employer paying you for work you performed.

Wow that sucks! Yes for not turning in your notes they can withhold pay. This is because they dont get paid. Im pretty sure its illigal to withhold pay for not doing notes the way they want. I would do that so so you get that check, and then run! You deserve better. I have had 2 companies not pay on time for no reason and I had to quit then get my money back eventually, It took months and I was owed thousands. One I had to take to court then won. But dont let it go that far. They perhaps told you you wont get paid until notes were to their liking as a way to stall you because they didnt have the money, or are just shady and dont want to pay. Thats why I would do what it takes to get that one check then run!

My wife and I just bought a home care two years ago. All the nurses there got paid by the hours and we changed that to a point system. However, for all the new hired nurses don't want the point system and so we end up adopting the per visit as an additional system in our agency. For some of the new nurses and LPN that choose the pay per visit fail to complete their charting. We have to put in place policies that if charting is not complete we won't pay them.

One bad apple ruin the whole.

+ Add a Comment