Overtime pay rules finalized, will take effect this summer

The Bush administration has issued its final rules to change overtime provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule changes are particularly disturbing for healthcare professionals and the patients they care for, says the AFT.

“With overtime pay eliminated, hospitals and other healthcare providers have little incentive to end mandatory overtime and hire more staff to ensure safe staffing levels and improve the quality of patient care,” says AFT secretary-treasurer Edward J. McElroy.

In response to unrelenting criticism from those who opposed the new regulations, the Department of Labor revised some the rules, including increasing the threshold for workers eligible for overtime pay from $65,000 a year to $100,000 a year. The administration also dropped language in the proposed rules that said training received in the military could be counted as professional education that might disqualify military veterans from overtime pay.

“Though the Bush administration is attempting to pass off last-minute tinkering as meaningful changes to its final overtime proposal, that proposal still cuts many workers’ pay by denying them overtime compensation,” says McElroy.

Every worker earning between $23,660 and $100,000 a year is at risk of losing overtime. Workers earning more than that are almost guaranteed to lose overtime. The AFT has vowed to continue fighting the April 20 final rules and will work with members of Congress to roll them back through legislation.

“At a time when Americans are facing lower wages, double-digit increases in healthcare costs and job insecurity, we need a president who will protect workers’ rights and their economic well-being, rather than shortchange them,” says McElroy.

The department’s new rules are expected to take effect in August.

Federal legislation focuses on allied health professionals

A survey by AFT Healthcare noted that the shortage of healthcare workers is not limited to nurses, but plagues those in allied health professions as well. Now, Congress is trying to address their concerns. In late March, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) introduced the Allied Health Reinvestment Act (AHRA), H.R. 4016, which would help promote nursing, recruit new nurses and keep them in the profession.

The measure calls for public service announcements at the state and local level, as well as the creation of an Allied Health Professions Service Corps to provide students with scholarships in exchange for their practicing in healthcare shortage areas after graduation. The AHRA would authorize $28 million in new spending for allied health education from 2005 to 2009, including scholarships for students.

In many ways, the legislation echoes the 2002 Nurse Reinvestment Act, which provides scholarships and repays loans for nursing students who agree to work in shortage areas. It also funds career ladders in nursing and publicizes nursing as a profession.

New Jersey healthcare workers now have a law that protects them from forced overtime except in emergencies. The law went into effect Feb. 17, making New Jersey the second state to ban mandatory overtime.

The law protects workers who provide patient care or clinical services such as nurses, nurses’ aides, pharmacists and medical technicians, and prevents hospitals, nursing homes and home care agencies from forcing these employees to work beyond their regularly scheduled shifts.

“This is exactly what is needed—a law to say to hospitals that mandatory overtime won’t be tolerated,” says Stephanie Orrico, president of AFT Healthcare Local 5004, at the Englewood (N.J.) Hospital and Medical Center. Orrico’s local, which represents 600 registered nurses, forced the hospital to hire more nurses after two years of arbitration.

The law will make it easier for other hospitals to resolve the problem, says Orrico. It also will have a major impact on staffing at other hospitals while increasing the quality of care, she says. “Studies show that we need more nurses at the bedside.”

Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), New Jersey’s state affiliate, and other unions and organizations began lobbying for a ban on mandatory overtime five years ago. Although they succeeded in getting legislation signed in 2002, the regulations were not written until now, says Jeanne Otersen, HPAE’s public policy director.

Washington was the first state to ban mandatory overtime, followed by New Jersey and West Virginia. Other states, including Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin, are considering a ban.

The Vermont legislature is considering a measure that would ban retaliation by a hospital if an employee reported violations of law or hazards that threaten patient safety. The bill passed the Vermont Senate 16-12 and has moved to the House.

The Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, which represents registered nurses and licensed practical nurses at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, has been lobbying lawmakers to pass the measure.

The state hospital association opposed the bill, arguing that many hospitals already have nonretaliation policies. In addition, U.S. law protects whistleblowers at institutions receiving federal funds like Medicare.