Is this legal?

[ni4ni]

BACKGROUND: I work for a small hospital who says they are having financial difficulties. (Their fault as they have outsourced collections to an idiot company.) There have been numerous job cuts and as of last week, no one in the building, other than nurses, are allowed to have over 32 hours a week. It was rumored that last periods payroll was charged to a credit card. We come to work each day wondering if we are going to have a job or if they will be closing the hopsital.

DILEMMA: We accrue PTO (Paid time off) each pay period. The amount you earn is calculated by your pay and your length of service to hospital. Well, they have put a hold on this PTO. We still earn and accrue it, however we can not use it. If you miss a day for any reason, you just lose the time, no matter if you have 200 hours of PTO.

Is this legal?

EDIT: Forgot to add an important part, several employees put in months ago for PTO time for vacations and such and they were approved. Now they are told that they won't be paid for their vacations.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: ni4ni
BACKGROUND: I work for a small hospital who says they are having financial difficulties. (Their fault as they have outsourced collections to an idiot company.) There have been numerous job cuts and as of last week, no one in the building, other than nurses, are allowed to have over 32 hours a week. It was rumored that last periods payroll was charged to a credit card. We come to work each day wondering if we are going to have a job or if they will be closing the hopsital.

DILEMMA: We accrue PTO (Paid time off) each pay period. The amount you earn is calculated by your pay and your length of service to hospital. Well, they have put a hold on this PTO. We still earn and accrue it, however we can not use it. If you miss a day for any reason, you just lose the time, no matter if you have 200 hours of PTO.

Is this legal?

I suggest this be moved to P&N

It is full of Pro Corporate supporters. I'm sure they'll find they can do whatever they want.

 

[Nebor]

I'm pretty sure it's fine for them to say "No vacations at this time."

 

[BooGiMaN]

id hate to be an employee or patient there...wow

 

[Darwin333]

If their financial troubles are as dire as you say, would you prefer that they lay you off so they can afford to allow your coworkers to take their PTO?

It might not be right but it sounds like they are doing what they have to do in order to keep the place afloat.

 

[funkymatt]

what does your employment contract say?

 

[randay]

find a new job asap

 

[spidey07]

Sounds perfectly legal to me. Employment is an agreement between you and your employer and unless otherwise stated in a contract is free to change at anytime. And even then your contract can be useless.

However, you need to jump ship ASAP. You're about to be offered a "retention package" which means they promise 3-6 months pay if you stay and then the crap hits the fan. Good luck on collecting that. You want to be one of the very first ones to get let go. Don't be part of the last group, be part of the first group.

 

[ElFenix]

time to polish up the old resume

 

[ni4ni]

Originally posted by: Darwin333
If their financial troubles are as dire as you say, would you prefer that they lay you off so they can afford to allow your coworkers to take their PTO?

It might not be right but it sounds like they are doing what they have to do in order to keep the place afloat.

The truth is, they aren't having financial problems like they want us to believe. We know the money is there. The corporation is breaking ground on a 100 million dollar facility next month. They are just wishing they never signed the contract to take over this hospital, three years ago.

 

[ni4ni]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Sounds perfectly legal to me. Employment is an agreement between you and your employer and unless otherwise stated in a contract is free to change at anytime. And even then your contract can be useless.

However, you need to jump ship ASAP. You're about to be offered a "retention package" which means they promise 3-6 months pay if you stay and then the crap hits the fan. Good luck on collecting that. You want to be one of the very first ones to get let go. Don't be part of the last group, be part of the first group.

My co-worker and I will probably be near the end. Why be there first?

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: ni4ni

Originally posted by: spidey07
Sounds perfectly legal to me. Employment is an agreement between you and your employer and unless otherwise stated in a contract is free to change at anytime. And even then your contract can be useless.

However, you need to jump ship ASAP. You're about to be offered a "retention package" which means they promise 3-6 months pay if you stay and then the crap hits the fan. Good luck on collecting that. You want to be one of the very first ones to get let go. Don't be part of the last group, be part of the first group.

My co-worker and I will probably be near the end. Why be there first?

do you don't do a bunch of work and not get paid.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: ni4ni

Originally posted by: Darwin333
If their financial troubles are as dire as you say, would you prefer that they lay you off so they can afford to allow your coworkers to take their PTO?

It might not be right but it sounds like they are doing what they have to do in order to keep the place afloat.

The truth is, they aren't having financial problems like they want us to believe. We know the money is there. The corporation is breaking ground on a 100 million dollar facility next month. They are just wishing they never signed the contract to take over this hospital, three years ago.

The new facility is irrelevant. If the facility that you are working at is not making a profit then the managers will do everything they can in order to make an acceptable profit. That includes layoffs, decreases in hours, decreases in benefits etc. If that does not work then they will close the facility. Right or wrong, that is how business works.

Originally posted by: ni4ni
We come to work each day wondering if we are going to have a job or if they will be closing the hopsital.

This sentence says it all. If you go to work every day worried if you are going to have a job then your PTO should be the last of your worries right now.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: ni4ni
We come to work each day wondering if we are going to have a job or if they will be closing the hopsital.

This sentence says it all. If you go to work every day worried if you are going to have a job then your PTO should be the last of your worries right now.

That's a good way of putting it.

Regardless, if you have a contractual obligation to it, then you deserve it, but I'm certain that contract would also say they don't pay out squat if you get fired, and the easiest way to stop you from using your PTO is to just fire you. (which wouldn't be logical under normal circumstances, but if it's you or someone else, you don't wanna put yourself in front of the bullet.)

 

[BUTCH1]

Might be a good time to check your states labor laws or pool together some cash
and get the opinion of an attorney. I worked at a food distributer that got bought
out by US foodservice (a big player), some of the employees had been there 15
yrs. or longer and had accrued TONS of sick/vac time but were told by the new co.
"we have a 12 day maximum accrual" and they lost it...

 

[pravi333]

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: ni4ni

Originally posted by: Darwin333
If their financial troubles are as dire as you say, would you prefer that they lay you off so they can afford to allow your coworkers to take their PTO?

It might not be right but it sounds like they are doing what they have to do in order to keep the place afloat.

The truth is, they aren't having financial problems like they want us to believe. We know the money is there. The corporation is breaking ground on a 100 million dollar facility next month. They are just wishing they never signed the contract to take over this hospital, three years ago.

The new facility is irrelevant. If the facility that you are working at is not making a profit then the managers will do everything they can in order to make an acceptable profit. That includes layoffs, decreases in hours, decreases in benefits etc. If that does not work then they will close the facility. Right or wrong, that is how business works.

Originally posted by: ni4ni
We come to work each day wondering if we are going to have a job or if they will be closing the hopsital.

This sentence says it all. If you go to work every day worried if you are going to have a job then your PTO should be the last of your worries right now.

We can cry as much as we want but thats the truth and thats what is happening in the real world.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Vacation and PTO are benifits granted by the company.

The company is only required by law to pay you for your labor.

 

[mattpegher]

Basically, hospitals get away with that sh1t for two reasons. One you let them. Get a new job and quit. They will only see the error of their ways if the staff leaves. Also you didn't say what your position is. If you are nursing your fellows may be numerous enough to have a union. If your IT you probably don't have enough staff to do that. I'm not in favor of unions across the board but for health care, I think it is crucial. Hospitals get away with too much, mainly because they aren't held to the standards of non-healthcare companies. As a doc, I see the staff get screwed all the time.

If enough people were to quit the hospital would have to pay OT and agency to maintain staff, which cost more. Alas it sounds like they are preparing for a closure. GET OUT.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: ni4ni
BACKGROUND: I work for a small hospital who says they are having financial difficulties. (Their fault as they have outsourced collections to an idiot company.) There have been numerous job cuts and as of last week, no one in the building, other than nurses, are allowed to have over 32 hours a week. It was rumored that last periods payroll was charged to a credit card. We come to work each day wondering if we are going to have a job or if they will be closing the hopsital.

DILEMMA: We accrue PTO (Paid time off) each pay period. The amount you earn is calculated by your pay and your length of service to hospital. Well, they have put a hold on this PTO. We still earn and accrue it, however we can not use it. If you miss a day for any reason, you just lose the time, no matter if you have 200 hours of PTO.

Is this legal?

EDIT: Forgot to add an important part, several employees put in months ago for PTO time for vacations and such and they were approved. Now they are told that they won't be paid for their vacations.

unless you have a CBA or a contract, its not illegal.