Fired for Staying Late -- Do I Have Any Recourse?
A hard-working nurse at a long-term care facility lost her job for staying late to finish charting. What should she do? Overworked, Underappreciated, and Fired
Here is the background to the question posed by a Medscape reader:
I was working in a long-term care facility as a licensed practical nurse on the evening shift. I worked the rehabilitation hall and had the most admissions and discharges. When we were short staffed, which was almost every day, I was expected to not only do my job but also do the job of the nurse on the other hall, admit patients, pass medications, and help the nursing assistants. Some days I was doing the work of 4 people. I was not able to get all my work done on my shift, so I would stay late to finish. If I didn't finish my work, I would get in trouble. I was told to pass unfinished work on to the next shift, but they wouldn't do it -- they just left it for me to finish the next day. I made the administration aware of my situation and was told that I needed to clock out on time, with no offer of help. I frequently stayed 4 hours past my shift doing all the paperwork. I was exhausted working there and suffered increased pain that I have in my legs from major nerve damage. Eventually, I was fired for staying late.
I don't understand why they don't want their residents taken care of. I was a favorite among the residents and their families. I could spot signs of trouble ahead of time and meet their needs before things got worse. I was able to calm angry emotions. Frequently, administration -- even the Chief Operating Officer -- would stop me in the hall and tell me that they had a family member call to tell them how much they liked me and how good I was doing. My termination broke my heart; I cried for an hour before I was able to leave the office. A resident passed away less than a week after my termination because no one else would take the time to identify her trouble signs and treat them before she became critical. Can I take any legal action?
'At Will' Employment
To get directly to your question, no legal action will get you your job back. Unless an employee has an employment contract that says otherwise, employment is "at will," meaning that the employer can let you go for a reason or for no reason. The only recourse that terminated employees have is under the equal-opportunity laws, which protect the right of freedom from discrimination in the workplace. If you documented the hours you spent working after your shift was over, you could file an action for back pay for those hours. This is just what the employer was trying to avoid. Employers are required by law to pay hourly employees for all hours worked. It's not illegal for you, the employee, to stay late without pay, but it is illegal for the facility to allow you to do that and not pay you. I suspect that the employer didn't want to pay you (perhaps at an overtime rate) for all the hours you worked, and they didn't want to be charged with a wage/hour violation under federal or state law or be faced with a bill for your extra hours at a later date. So they terminated you.
Read more:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/808203...
Here is the background to the question posed by a Medscape reader:
I was working in a long-term care facility as a licensed practical nurse on the evening shift. I worked the rehabilitation hall and had the most admissions and discharges. When we were short staffed, which was almost every day, I was expected to not only do my job but also do the job of the nurse on the other hall, admit patients, pass medications, and help the nursing assistants. Some days I was doing the work of 4 people. I was not able to get all my work done on my shift, so I would stay late to finish. If I didn't finish my work, I would get in trouble. I was told to pass unfinished work on to the next shift, but they wouldn't do it -- they just left it for me to finish the next day. I made the administration aware of my situation and was told that I needed to clock out on time, with no offer of help. I frequently stayed 4 hours past my shift doing all the paperwork. I was exhausted working there and suffered increased pain that I have in my legs from major nerve damage. Eventually, I was fired for staying late.
I don't understand why they don't want their residents taken care of. I was a favorite among the residents and their families. I could spot signs of trouble ahead of time and meet their needs before things got worse. I was able to calm angry emotions. Frequently, administration -- even the Chief Operating Officer -- would stop me in the hall and tell me that they had a family member call to tell them how much they liked me and how good I was doing. My termination broke my heart; I cried for an hour before I was able to leave the office. A resident passed away less than a week after my termination because no one else would take the time to identify her trouble signs and treat them before she became critical. Can I take any legal action?
'At Will' Employment
To get directly to your question, no legal action will get you your job back. Unless an employee has an employment contract that says otherwise, employment is "at will," meaning that the employer can let you go for a reason or for no reason. The only recourse that terminated employees have is under the equal-opportunity laws, which protect the right of freedom from discrimination in the workplace. If you documented the hours you spent working after your shift was over, you could file an action for back pay for those hours. This is just what the employer was trying to avoid. Employers are required by law to pay hourly employees for all hours worked. It's not illegal for you, the employee, to stay late without pay, but it is illegal for the facility to allow you to do that and not pay you. I suspect that the employer didn't want to pay you (perhaps at an overtime rate) for all the hours you worked, and they didn't want to be charged with a wage/hour violation under federal or state law or be faced with a bill for your extra hours at a later date. So they terminated you.
Read more:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/808203...
Employers don't want to pay overtime, so go home! In a situation like this, I'd document that I endorsed to the next shift what needed to be carried out and in that wise its off my hands. I'd also send an email to the manager to let that person know what transpired and copy her/his boss. Always leave a paper trail.