The following contains important information in regards to Article 14.06 in our central agreement and partial shift premium interpretation.
Article 14.06 specifically touches upon call-in premium by saying “where a regular PT or FT nurse is called in to work outside their regularly scheduled hours”. The interpretation of this language isn’t readily available in our contract the facts are being pulled from a recent arbitration decision between the ONA and TOH. The arbitrator ruled that partial shifts that are posted by the hospital will be paid at double time.
What is a partial shift and when will double time apply?
- A partial shift is a part of a shift on your unit. If your unit is exclusively 12 hours if anything less than a 12 hour shift is posted it will be double time. If you are a mix of 8s and 12s then anything less than an 8 hour shift that is posted on that unit will trigger the double time premium.
- If a 12 hour shift is posted on Vocantas and you bid on it and offer to only work a partial shift it will NOT trigger the premium. (Ex your unit is only 12 hour shifts, a QB is posted and you only bid on the DE portion). Therefore, you can still bid and offer to work a partial tour but it will not trigger the double time premium.
- If you are called at home and MANDATED to come into work it is at double time for any hours you are mandated.
- If you are mandated to extend your shift when you are already at work it is only 1.5 time.
Ways you will see this reflected in shift offers:
- The hospital can, but most likely will stop posting partial shifts on Vocantas since these will be awarded at double time.
- If you request partial shift vacation this will most likely be denied since the hospital will not want to post the partial shift.
- Requesting a full shift off will have a higher chance of being granted.
- If you have a medical appointment, you can request vacation for your full shift off, or ask your manager to give you unpaid leave (and have bank time paid out if you have any) or switch shifts with a coworker. You can still request a partial shift vacation but this might not be granted due to the new premium rules.
This might be difficult to adjust to at first however it also helps to keep the hospital accountable to grant full shift vacations and post proper full shifts.
If you have any questions, or further concerns please reach out to Merissa, Ganen or Laura. Remember if you feel you are missing double time from a shift you only have 9 CALENDAR days from the shift occurrence to file a grievance.
Bargaining Unit President Merissa Pyke gro.a1732183409no@0517321834097pub4173218340980lac1732183409ol1732183409