Working weekends

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I work weekends. I do this because it helps with my child in school. And the other nurse that works opposite of me, did not want to work weekends. I do not get paid extra to work weekends. I do receive the weekend diff that everyone else receives. I love working weekends, but when I put in a request for a weekend off ,it is denied. I don't understand why I earn PTO but cannot use it. This is my major problem with where I work, not being able to take time off. How do I handle this?

25 minutes ago, JKL33 said:

 

I respect/understand your view and sort of agree with it.

 

You must agree 100%. ?

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I also like working weekends. I do not have a problem doing so. I just thought that if I needed time off I would be able to use my pto that I have earned. I submitted my request in the appropriate amount of time. I don't understand why an employer touts pto as a benefit, but then does not allow you to use it. It is not a hospital wide problem. A nurse in another department has a lot of pto and she is taking the entire month of September off.

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3 hours ago, Loveishope1970 said:

I also like working weekends. I do not have a problem doing so. I just thought that if I needed time off I would be able to use my pto that I have earned. I submitted my request in the appropriate amount of time. I don't understand why an employer touts pto as a benefit, but then does not allow you to use it. It is not a hospital wide problem. A nurse in another department has a lot of pto and she is taking the entire month of September off.

I understand that you're upset, but you seem to be going in circles at this point. Nobody can explain the exact reason(s) why your employer does what they do.

Since this is very important to you, maybe you should ask to speak with your manager and make that very clear. I once told an employer that I would not be showing up for work on a specific day- whether I was on the schedule, or not. They ceded and took me off, but they could have just as easily fired me.

Decide what your priorities are, what outcomes you can live with, and act accordingly. Don't cloud your issue by bringing up other circumstances. Stay focused on the actual problem.

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Specializes in Emergency.

These types of conversations can leave a lot residual anger between the different parties and leave a lot of bad blood and low morale in its wake. I recommend asking the opposite nurse for a simple switch specific to the weekend you're asking off; if they don't oblige then request PTO and explain that you've approached the opposite nurse prior to requesting PTO.

If you're wanting to have regular weekends off, I would bring to the manager's attention that circumstances have changes for everyone, including you and that would have to think about your family as well. The manager has to realize at some point that it's only fair you work the same amount of weekends expected of everyone else, regardless of your prior weekend work habits. 

I have not read prior comments, apologies if this is repetitive.  

Good luck! 

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I work weekends and I get to use PTO. There is an issue here. Maybe because of you getting this schedule your boss feels she has to do this to justify you getting this schedule. Either way it is wrong. Correct me if I am wrong, you want to still work weekends but would like to use PTO occassionally? At the end of the day, if they fired me, I would still be okay. They know this. 

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2020 at 12:34 AM, Sour Lemon said:

What's the worst that will happen if you call in? I know you're not "allowed" to, but maybe you should just do it anyway and take the hit.

You might want to be careful about this strategy. Some employers - mine included - make it a disciplinary issue if you are denied leave for a certain day/days and then you call off on the same day(s).

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I would check the HR policy. One hospital I worked at gave a significant pay differential for weekends and weekend nights. The contact specifically stated that you had to work a certain % of your shifts and could not be take any leave or PTO on your assigned shifts. 

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On 8/31/2020 at 11:16 AM, Loveishope1970 said:

I work weekends. I do this because it helps with my child in school. And the other nurse that works opposite of me, did not want to work weekends. I do not get paid extra to work weekends. I do receive the weekend diff that everyone else receives. I love working weekends, but when I put in a request for a weekend off ,it is denied. I don't understand why I earn PTO but cannot use it. This is my major problem with where I work, not being able to take time off. How do I handle this?

I worked FT for a year and would get the days off that I requested-but still had to work three twelves and was not allowed to us any of my PTO earned-I didn’t use their other benefits-so I went PRN and cashed out my PTO and made my own schedule after switching over.

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