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winter 2008

Mandatory OT abolished for nurses in New York State

In September, Governor David Patterson signed into law a bill abolishing mandatory overtime for all nurses in New York State. This landmark legislation caps eight years of struggle by the Federation of Nurses/UFT, which together with its state affiliate NYSUT, coordinated a sustained legislative campaign on behalf of 1199 SEIU, NYSNA, CWA, OPEIU, PEF and the Student Nurse Association. UFT Special Representative Anne Goldman noted the significance of our victory, saying “This change to the law will improve the work lives of thousands of nurses – in public as well as private facilities – across New York State. No longer will employers be able to make us work unreasonable hours, which have had a negative impact on both us and our patients.”

The new law limits the number of consecutive hours a nurse may be on duty to eight. It also provides that no nurse shall be on duty for more than 40 hours in any seven-day period except as a consequence of an emergency situation that could not have been reasonably predicted.

The ban on mandatory overtime comes not a minute too soon.

Nancy Miller, a nurse at Staten Island University Hospital, described mandatory overtime at her facility as a “disaster.” Nurses with young children have been particularly affected. “You expect to get home at 11p.m., but you don’t get home until the next morning and your husband can’t go to work. It’s a nightmare,” she said. As is the case at many other health care facilities, the contract at Miller’s hospital prohibits mandatory overtime except under extraordinary circumstances. According to Miller, however, management routinely abused this contract language. “Mandatory overtime should be used for unforeseen emergencies, but they were using it as a staffing device,” she explained. The situation got so bad this past year that from September through June nurses at the facility were regularly being called in for mandatory overtime twice a week.

Renee Setteducato, a nurse at Lutheran Medical Center, summed up the problem for nurses everywhere: “Management fails to understand that we have lives outside the hospital.”

Miller, Setteducato and Goldman were all quick to point out that understaffing lies at the heart of the problem. The management of facilities such as Staten Island University Hospital, intent on cutting costs, refuses to hire sufficient numbers of nurses to adequately cover all shifts. If on a given day, two or three nurses are absent, there is no recourse except to mandatory overtime. This unfair practice has in turn discouraged many young people interested in health care from pursuing careers in nursing and has led to poor retention among new hires, compounding the problem.

It is also dangerous – overworked and tired nurses are more prone to making mistakes, potentially putting the health of their patients at risk. Setteducato put the hospitals’ priorities in perspective, noting “The hospitals are being run like corporations. With hospital CEOs making millions and millions of dollars – not including bonuses – there is plenty of money. Trim their salaries. You don’t save money on people’s lives.”

At the same time, all parties agree that there are circumstances under which mandated overtime is necessary. The aim of the legislation, emphasized Goldman, is to combat mandatory overtime as an exploitative staffing mechanism used by management to fill shifts and not as a legitimate emergency-preparedness measure. “No one is saying nurses shouldn’t have mandatory overtime in the face of a disaster. Nurses work in disasters. That’s not the point,” she said. “This isn’t the story of 9/11, it’s the story of bad management.”

The situation at Staten Island University Hospital was ultimately resolved through the grievance process and arbitration. As a result of fighting with hospital management, the federation was able to get tighter regulations for mandatory overtime put into place at the facility and approximately 15 new nurses have been hired over the last three months. In other cases nurses have been granted monetary awards by arbitrators. But such penalties have never stopped employers from resorting to mandatory overtime in the past. It is clear that something stronger than contract language is needed to bring this injustice to an end. “We had protections against mandatory overtime in our contract but management blatantly violated them,” said Miller. “The arbitrator would slap them on the wrist. Now with the law, that will change.”

As always, the union will continue to advocate for better patient care and, with your assistance, will see that this significant new legislation is enforced and that its full weight is brought to bear on employers who persist in abusing mandatory overtime. Please be sure to report any infraction of the law to your union representative.