Overtime pay during Hurricane Irma, incorrect pay

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At a hospital I was working at during Hurricane Irma, the hourly hospital staff was paid for their overtime:
Base hourly $___ , plus $7 per hour. There was no 1.5X or 2X hourly pay when the hospital was locked down (no employees were allowed to enter or leave the hospital) from Thursday night till Monday morning.
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No matter how many hours of OT these hospital employees worked, they were only paid 'Lock Down' pay. I told some employees from plant operations (engineering dept) they need to file a complaint with the Department of Labor cause they weren't paid properly...... but they are afraid to file online or call and give their name, dept, phone number, address of hospital, etc... for fear of retribution.


As a contract employee, I stayed at the hospital (we are contractually obligated to be on site for hurricane coverage) from Thursday till Monday, also because hospital administration requested coverage.

This was my overtime pay for each day:
8 hours at base pay
4 hours 1.5X pay
12 hours 2X pay


Why should these employees be worried about collecting every penny they are owed by this cheap hospital ?
 
Well I think if they have a contract and that's what it says in the contract during an emergency, I don't see a problem.
 
I did the same and just received my regular pay, don't want to complain as they will can my chunky behind.

You can be a whistle blower and report them ;-)
 
Well I think if they have a contract and that's what it says in the contract during an emergency, I don't see a problem.
 
Hear about stuff like this with terrible managers do dumb/illegal stuff like this. Tell the employees (not my team), to file your claim with HR, if that doesn't work then move to DOL and call an lawyer.

They are usual scared of retaliation and the time it would take to find a new job and settle any lawsuit that would arise from it. I tell them they should be so lucky that these managers would double down on being idiots and document their illegal rules in a lawsuit.

Broadly speaking, I've learned that most people are not good at managing their careers (stay at places they are treated badly, accept terrible job offers, not report illegal practices, not look for other jobs) and will settle for working conditions that they would tell others they should not put up.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
... Why should these employees be worried about collecting every penny they are owed by this cheap hospital ?

They are worried because they will be "replaced" soon after revealing their complaint and be ineligible for rehire. And if they use their experience at the hospital on their resume, they may not get a job afterwards if the HR department, as part of their due diligence, calls the hospital HR department to ask whether "they would hire the person again".
 
If you really, really want to be involved in the matter get a copy of the employee "handbook" and "employment agreement" and see what they say..my guess is there is a provision for emergency, lock down or weather related events and describes exactly what the employee compensation will be. That is what the hospital contractually is required to do..and they did it.

If they operated or changed the employment agreement without notice..then there is grounds for a complaint. There will be an exact protocol for giving notice..usually thru the HR dept. If there is a mistake the hospital has the opportunity to correct the error. If the hospital is correct..then you know.

Going to the Florida Department of Labor first would be a sophomoric exercise and will go no-where.

You won't get fired for asking HR about your paycheck..not an unusual request, very common..you will get fired for filing complaints with regulators without first investigating the reason for the paycheck.
 
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Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
They are worried because they will be "replaced" soon after revealing their complaint and be ineligible for rehire. And if they use their experience at the hospital on their resume, they may not get a job afterwards if the HR department, as part of their due diligence, calls the hospital HR department to ask whether "they would hire the person again".

This. And it is a very real fear. A family member went through something similar, and the case dragged on for many months. He was "replaced" and the HR department somehow lost his last glowing evaluation. He is currently still job searching. It doesn't help that his name hit the local paper and now shows up on Google. If employers do an online search the whole thing comes up.

The best thing you can do if you are unhappy is just quietly look for another position. Document everything currently going on if you want to lawyer up and tackle it afterward.
 
Doesn't matter what the employee handbook or employee contract says, if it is illegal. They have to follow the law. They can write whatever policies they want, but if the policy doesn't align with DOL Regulations...
 
If it's in violation of Federal Overtime laws then they've got big problems coming their way, not just for this violation but any past violations that get dragged up in the investigation.
 
Big problems coming their way? No..sorry..FLSA overtime regulations are changed during an emergency situation for Police officers, detectives, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, highway patrol officers, investigators, inspectors, correctional officers, parole or probation officers, park rangers, fire fighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, ambulance personnel, rescue workers, hazardous materials workers and similar ...like hospital workers too

You don't think the lawyers at the corporate office have not reviewed the Fed labor law?

Yikes! Just go to HR department and ask about how your paycheck was calculated..easy enough to do and you don't need to be confrontational.
 
I'll tell the people I know to ask for the most updated Employee Handbook to see what it says about employee pay during a natural disaster / emergency situations.

Lots of unhappy hospital employees but I understand many are afraid to speak up cause the hospital will say if you don't like it.... "there's the front door".

OT: I did see the hospital CEO, COO, CNO, CIO and other dept directors at the hospital from Thursday till Monday.
 
If they pay too much, expect them to catch it. If they underpay, expect for them not to fix it until you scream bloody murder and get flagged as a troublemaker
 
I have learned that you can have lots of rights in the workplace, but you end up dead wrong. I was retaliated against at work, and it was awful. I couldn't find another job so I had to keep going into an environment I didn't want to be in. The result? I ended up in a coma in ICU for a month, my pulmonologist said "stress" was the only reason they could think of for it happening. Remember, the employer is the house, and the house always wins.

John
 
I'm surprised that these hospital employees don't have a union to handle these types of discrepancies. Take the grievance to them and let them do what they exist for. Then, there is no fear of personal retaliation.
 
once my wife decided to be a whistle-blower and complained to HR about improper work situation. the short story is she lost her job and could not find a new one in the same city no matter how hard she tried (in healthcare where there was supposed to be shortage). she had to go back to school and start a brand new career. even then the only job she could find was in a different state, lots of commuting.
just saying.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
I'm surprised that these hospital employees don't have a union to handle these types of discrepancies. Take the grievance to them and let them do what they exist for. Then, there is no fear of personal retaliation.


It's the South.
 
I just received an $1850 bill from the hospital for a 43 second consultation with an ER doc, and one bag of saline solution injected into my daughters veins due to dehydration. This same doctor said nothing was wrong with my daughter who by that time had already lost 20% of her body weight and had thrown up every meal and every drink consumed for 4 days straight. I told the doc to put some fluids in her, which he reluctantly did. And what do you know, she was 100% after getting some fluids in her, able to eat and drink just fine, she just needed some fluids to jump start her recovery.

They can pay their employees during a disaster, even if it cost them some money.
 
If I have this correct, OP is a third party vendor for this hospital. Why get involved in this, even in conversation? Seems very inappropriate and not something I would even be comfortable discussing.
 
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