Gilroy
– Although the new federal overtime rules that took effect
Monday have a limited effect on the state, the California Nurses
Association is warning local registered nurses that the changes
eventually might catch up to them
Gilroy – Although the new federal overtime rules that took effect Monday have a limited effect on the state, the California Nurses Association is warning local registered nurses that the changes eventually might catch up to them.
Nurses in California and several other states are ensured overtime pay under state law, said Liz Jacobs, spokesperson for CNA. But Jacobs said the CNA worries that the new federal laws are a further step toward encroaching on the labor rights of California nurses, and that state lawmakers might buckle under the pressure to conform.
“Our concern is that this opens the door for those protections to be done away with,” Jacobs said. “It’s a step backwards, just when we were just starting to make progress in California.”
CNA this year has seen improved nurse staffing ratios and retiree benefits as well increased wages, Jacobs said. But when coupled with the new overtime laws, she thinks those advances might mean one step forward and two steps back.
“There’s already a national shortage of nurses going to work in hospitals, and working excessive over time will just drive them out of the field,” she said. “That’s a worry for us.”
Overtime becomes a more critical issue when it involves public health, Jacobs said, citing numerous scientific studies that show increased medication errors when nurses work excessive overtime.
But Vivian Smith, spokesperson for St. Louise Regional Hospital, said she doesn’t see overtime pay becoming a contested issue in the near future. At that hospital, RNs work five eight-hour or four 12-hour shifts and are compensated for overtime. And contrary to studies cited by the CNA, Smith said, medication errors over the past two years have decreased, not increased during the longer shifts.
The new laws mainly cut overtime pay for white-collar workers in executive, administrative and professional positions who earn $100,000 or more per year. Eligibility for overtime pay largely is determined by primary job duties and experience.
Another change is that workers are eligible for overtime pay if they earn less than $23,660 per year and work more than 40 hours per week. Additionally, for the first time, the new laws also provide overtime compensation for first responders including police and firefighters.
Privately employed workers in California follow the state’s stricter requirements for overtime pay eligibility. More than two million federal, state and local government employees in California are subject to federal law, but many are protected by overriding union contracts.
The U.S. Department of Labor said it imposed the new laws in order to better align labor practices with today’s workplace environment and to help employers better understand responsibilities to their employees. The new laws will affect about 115 million workers nationwide.
Congressional Democrats, labor unions and other critics contend the new rules squeeze more labor out of more people while dodging appropriate compensation. Critics also say the laws make it easier for employers to cut costs by laying off employees who are eligible for overtime pay or raising salaries so employees fall outside the eligibility bracket.
