Overcoming Overtime
In consultation with SEIU members nationwide, the Nurse Alliance has created an Overtime Report Form. This form enables nurses, whether union or non-union, to document any mandatory or pressured overtime we work.
This data will help nurses stop mandatory overtime and curb excessive dependence on voluntary overtime as a staffing band-aid.
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Overtime Report Form – click to download
How We’re Overcoming Overtime
Our ultimate goal with the Overtime Report Form, as with so much of Nurse Alliance work, is to improve staffing levels!
With adequate, well-planned staffing, we can eliminate mandatory overtime. Facilities don't need to mandate overtime when managers plan ahead, and when there are a balanced number of full- and part-time nurses, a healthy mix of per diem employees, and safe and flexible float pools.
In a disaster or true crisis, nurses have always been willing to volunteer for more than their scheduled hours. It is only recently, as managed care has cut staffing to unsafe levels, that so many hospitals have begun to utilize the inhumane and unsafe practice of mandatory overtime.
By compiling these forms, local unions can go into negotiations armed with evidence to support contract proposals that prohibit mandatory overtime. These forms can also be used to file complaints with regulatory agencies, and show legislators the dangers of involuntary overtime.
If you're a non-union nurse, you can also use this form to document the use of mandatory overtime at your facility. Or, better yet, you can email the Nurse Alliance of SEIU about forming a union at your hospital and join the 110,000 SEIU nurses around the country who are working together to improve staffing and protect quality patient care. Working together works!
How to use the Overtime Report Form
A union steward or leader downloads the form from the Nurse Alliance website. (When the window opens, go to "File" and click on "Save As". Save the file to your computer)
To adapt the form for use in your local, make the following three changes.
At top of the form, click inside the textbox where the words "SEIU Local XXXX" appear, and type in your local number or name.
In the paragraph that begins, "Every time a supervisor…" replace the text that reads "[Local Union, Address, City, State, Zip]" with the appropriate information.
At the very bottom of the form, replace "SEIU Local Name Here," etc., with the appropriate information.
Some other tips:
Stewards in each unit make sure that forms are available for every nurse on every shift.
Every time nurses work mandatory or pressured overtime, they fill out a form and return it to their steward.
The local union keeps close track of the forms to help leaders plan a campaign against mandatory overtime. The Nurse Alliance recommends that one union leader or staff member take responsibility for making sure that all completed forms are tabulated and then stored in a single, secure location - very likely, in the union office. We also encourage local unions to follow up with nurses who submit forms.
At a non-union facility, a designated leader can take responsibility for customizing and gathering all the forms. Make clear that this is not an official employer form.
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