Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1399555
Your Time is Valuable Federal law, state law, and your contract all require your employer to pay you for all hours worked, including overtime and, in California, working through your meal break. It's Professional to Claim Your Overtime Sometimes nurses feel that it reflects poorly on us as professionals if we cannot complete our work in our regular shift. It is because you are responsible for the care of your patients that you often cannot simply walk out at the end of your shift. When a patient's condition deteriorates late in your shift, as a professional, you prioritize that patient. If that means other work is not completed during your shift, you stay to complete it. Charting is part of your professional and legal responsibility. If you have to stay past the end of your shift in order to complete your work, claim your time. Not claiming overtime undermines your colleagues and your patients by legitimizing unsafe staffing. Don't Be Intimidated Sometimes nurses feel intimidated by managers who discourage overtime and blame the nurse, sug- gesting we are not well organized. Increased patient acuity and cuts in ancillary staff are the primary reasons nurses work overtime. You are a patient advocate. Advocate for quality care. California Law Under Section 210 of the California Labor Code, failure to pay wages that are due is subject to a civil penalty. If you fail to claim your time, you are falsifying your own time records. No Mandatory Overtime Most California contracts have provisions that ban the use of mandatory overtime except in cases of emergency declared by state, local, or federal government and where efforts have been made to obtain voluntary or external assistance in providing the care, but additional staffing is still required to provide a safe level of patient care. 45 Know Your Rights Claim Your Overtime