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Discussion

Would you join in on this lawsuit?

I have been working private duty for this staffing agency on and off for several years. They are crooked and, I believe, unethical, but they use the nurses' love for the patients we care for (and our need to support our families) against us. We are labled provate contractors, even though the company treats us as employees in every aspect, dictating when we work and even making schedules out more than a month in advance, demanding things of us that true private contractors are not required to do, they even call us employees in documentation. We're only private contractors for tax purposes.

Not only that, but up until the labor board came and investigated them a couple of months ago on a complaint they were regularly working the nurses 60-80+hrs a week with no overtime.

They started paying me $17/hr three years ago. The last case I worked they raised it to $21/hr. That case ended. Several cases ended so they had a surplus of nurses needing a job. Since I am one of the few RNs doing private duty they offered me the job (they said since I was an RN I was not restricted on the hours I could work like the LPNs were). So I took on the case and they dropped my pay from $21/hr back down to $17/hr and basically told me that was just the way it was and I could take it or leave it because there were a lot of nurses wanting to work. Well, right now I have no choice but to take it because I have four little kids but I really resent the way they treat people. Also, they are bringing in LPNs fresh out of school and starting them out at $20/hr on a lot of cases.

There are several lawsuits pending against this company (all I can think is they have some darned good lawyers to have kept plugging along like they have in spite of all the investigations and accusations) but among them one is a class action lawsuit of nurses vs. the staffing agency for back pay for overtime. There are quite a few nurses named in the suit and I'm being asked to include my name. As resentful as I feel toward this company right now I still need a job with them and I don't want to wrecklessly rush into this and face certain termination. On the other hand, if I knew the company was about to fold I wouldn't have anything to lose, even though the lawyer will take a very large chunk (my OT I never received totals in the tens of thousands, as does the rest of the nurses named in the suit so far).

Advice would be appreciated.

Featured Replies

I am sorry you are going through this. There are many "bad" companys out there that treat nurses wrong. First of all you should start looking for another job but don't tell this company. If you decide to join the lawsuit you will probably lose your job evern if they have to make up a reason. I have not been involved in a lawsuit but I have left 2 jobs because they did not treat everyone fair.Good luck

  • Experts

You said it so well here...As resentful as I feel toward this company right now I still need a job with them... Don't poison the well. Whatever comes of this lawsuit, you will get your owed OT or any other benefit once the action is concluded. If you join in, even though you have every right to, you will become known in the nursing community as "one of those nurses who sued their employer". I've been in your shoes and had steam and thunder coming out of my ears. Same thing. They bring your pay down to $17/hr, yet pay new hire LPNs $20/hr. It's happened to me. The answer is you speak up for yourself and get treated with the respect you deserve, or you look for other pastures. I've had to restrain myself from saying and doing things because I've gotten fed up with being used. Only because I didn't have another job lined up. Actively look elsewhere. If they fold tomorrow, you will need another employer. Pretend you know that they're folding shortly and get out there and look. Hope everything turns out ok for you. Good luck.

  • Experts

read up on this court case:

critical care register nursing, inc. v. united states, 776 f.supp. 1025, 1027-28 (e.d.pa.1991).

it established the legal president that rn's can be independent contractors and parameters to prove status vs employee

knew the rn owners as involved in pa nurses association...they were the ones got me involved in homecare. i worked perdiem as independent contractor in phila area hospitals during time case going through the courts.

critical care register nursing, inc. v. united states, 776 f.supp. 1025 (e.d.pa.1991), as judicial precedent under 530(a)(2)(a) to support its position that the nurses are independent contractors. in critical care, a case practically indistinguishable from the one before us, [9] supply nurses according to the hospitals' requests for particular shifts, and contracted with nurses to work those shifts. critical care did not prescribe for the nurses the work they were to perform, nor did it furnish uniforms, transportation, or vacation pay. in addition, critical care permitted its nurses to be employed directly by hospitals and to register with other agencies. id. at 1026. the district court for the eastern district of pennsylvania concluded that because the taxpayer had established a reasonable basis for not treating its workers as employees under traditional common law rules, it had satisfied the dictates of the general safe haven provision, 530(a)(1), and was thus exempt from employment tax liability. id. at 1028-29.

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:o1hkjx1j-acj:caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl%3fcourt%3d11th%26navby%3dcase%26no%3d948924opa+critical+care+registered+nursing+%2b+us+supreme+court+%2b+independent+nurse+contractor&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us

irs losing battle against contractors - internal revenue service ...

registry-supplied nurses reduce tax headache for hospitals ...

as independent contractor you accept or reject wage being offered to you. once you agree to a salary, no need for renegotiaiton. agency needs you as much as you need work...or they wouldn't be calling ya. ;)

ask for rate you feel is appropriate and stick firm.

If they are dictating to you when you must work and where, you are an employee. They cannot decide to call you a contractor just becuase they want to. They are doing this to lower thier costs. You might consider reporting them to the IRS.

Please note that in the case of Critical Care, the company did not dictate work times and places - therefore, their nurses fit the definition of contractors. I live near this company and followed their battles with the IRS in the local press many years ago and new several nurses who worked for them at the time.

  • Author
If they are dictating to you when you must work and where, you are an employee. They cannot decide to call you a contractor just becuase they want to. They are doing this to lower thier costs. You might consider reporting them to the IRS.

Please note that in the case of Critical Care, the company did not dictate work times and places - therefore, their nurses fit the definition of contractors. I live near this company and followed their battles with the IRS in the local press many years ago and new several nurses who worked for them at the time.

Yes, I have worked for other agencies as a private contractor and they clearly followed the rules and regulations such as not demanding we commit to a monthly schedule, maintain liability insurance (it isn't required of private contractors in this state), etc.. I have met the owner of this company, he is very arrogant and admits "I'm greedy." And he STILL works the LPNs overtime hours without the OT. One of his cronies has told us he will not get in trouble over this because he has his contracts "worded right." The attorney who was supposed to take the deposition from them this week had to postpone because they have still not sent him all the documentation he requested. We all know it's because they are still working day and night to doctor their books (we even have an Employee Handbook of Policy and Procedure we were given when we signed on with them, says employee right on the front.)

Of course, no one is twisting my arm to stay at this job and I agree to work for what I agree to work for. I used to always say this to people who would complain about their wages. On the other hand, when you see an agency brazenly break the law and walk all over the people who work for them because they realize you are desperate for a job and they know they can take advantage of you...well, you start to get a little bitter.

I also don't want to be known in the nursing world as a trouble maker who sues people. I've never sued anyone in my life. At the same time, it seems as though people would realize there are legitimate lawsuits and I believe this is one. I'm still leaning toward not adding my name to the list, though. It's a tough decision.

Also, not only do they require you commit to a schedule, they become very upset when you tell them you will need to be off a certain day or number of days, even if you tell them more than a month in advance....

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