JULY/AUGUST 2018
A NEWSLETTER FOR NYSNA RNs AT WESTCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER
WMC Nurses Launch Penalty Pay Campaign Nurses went all out this state legislative session to improve conditions for our patients and for our fellow nurses. We rallied, we lobbied lawmakers in Albany and in district, we signed petitions and made phone calls, and we had a breakthrough! At the end of the session, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his support for safe staffing, and made a commitment to sponsor legislation and regulations setting safe staffing levels for nurses and caregivers in hospitals and nursing homes in early 2019. In the meantime, the Governor directed the State Department of Labor to strictly enforce existing state law that protects nurses from involuntary overtime and guarantees the right to penalty pay for missed meal breaks and extra hours worked. This announcement could not have come at a better time. Nurses in several units have been reporting an increase in mandation. “Across the board, we’ve been asking for staffing,” said Jared Birnbaum, RN, in the OR. “People are getting exhausted. If you work five days a week and you’re mandated three times in a week, it takes a toll. We’re doing something to document it and make sure we’re paid correctly.” According to our contract, nurses must be paid doubletime every time after the third time you are mandated to
work overtime. Some units have documented the extra time and have made sure payroll is processing it correctly for years. But now, buoyed by Governor Cuomo’s announcement, NYSNA nurses at Westchester Med are launching a campaign to thoroughly document and win penalty pay—including for missed breaks and meal times. Jared explained, “I think many managers realize we shouldn’t use mandation as a crutch for staffing, so we’re starting to see a concerted effort to fix the problem. We just hired four new nurses in the OR, and there are many more postings.” With this campaign, not only will nurses have one more piece of evidence demonstrating to hospital administrators and state legislators how understaffed we are, but we will have an avenue to win the penalty pay each nurse deserves. Talk to your Rep about how to document your time and the next steps in winning back your money and respect!
…I have directed the Department of Labor to vigorously enforce workforce protections. Reports of nurses being forced to work through lunch breaks, additional hours and without fair compensation are not only unwise, as it diminishes the quality of care, but they violate state law, which will result in penalty-pay to each nurse, and which I am directing the Department of Labor to aggressively pursue.” - Governor Andrew Cuomo, July 20, 2018