Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Hello,

I work at a Central California hospital as a respiratory therapist. I am required to carry a inhouse pager so that the floors that I am assigned can contact me concerning patients on respiratory services and for emergencies such as a code blue.

The respiratory therapy staff is required to answer these pages even when "clocked out for lunch".

We are supposed to have an undisturbed 30 minute lunch, frequently my co-workers and myself are frequently paged 2 and three times during lunch for routine questions. We can't turn the pages off during our lunch and break time in case of emergency calls.

My question is should we be paid to be "on call" during our off the clock time? This problem is not unique to my hospital. Most acute care facilities operate in this manner.

Thank you,

Steven R.


Asked on 8/03/09, 1:36 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Steven - While you are certified by the NBRC are you also licensed by the State of California? If not, then you are likely owed one hour of pay for each day's meal period missed.

How many RT's work at your location and for which hospital or hospital group?

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Answered on 8/03/09, 11:15 am


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