Legal Question in Employment Law in Indiana
I work at a hospital in Indiana as a Registered Nurse. My position is full time hourly. Currently my pay rate is around 25/hour. During the past year, as the number of patients at our hospital fluctuates, my supervisors will call two hours before my scheduled work time and let me know if I am "called off" for the day, in which case there is no pay, or I am to be "on-call" and I am paid $2.00/hour for time I am on-call status. As the day develops, they may either take me off "on-call" status and require me to report for work, or call me off for the day. Lately, we have been put "on-call" one or two days a week.
My concerns are the following:
Employees may "defer" to be only on-call every other instance of being requested to be on-call. They may not "defer" twice in a row.
When "on-call", employees are required to answer their phone if the hospital calls and be ready to report to work within 1 hour.
When "on-call", the activities of employees are generally limited to being available for the hospital. In other words, they cannot make themselves available to a Temporary Nursing Agency, go shopping, spend time with kids at school, etc.
Employees who do not with to be "on-call", or wish to defer being "on-call" are generally fearful for their jobs.
There is no written policy in my employee handbook for "on-call" status.
My question is, can employers compel employees to be "on-call" during regular scheduled working hours?
What requirements may an employer place on an employee during on-call status?
Are labor laws being broken by my employer as they relate to their "on-call" practices.
This problem effects many nurses within my hospital and we are ready to file a complaint.
1 Answer from Attorneys
It seems to me that there is a possibility that you are entitled to your contracted pay of $25 an hour, or at a minimum minimum wagewhich is almost 4 times the pay that they are providing to you right now. I would need to read your employment contract, any written documents such as emails, correspondence, etc. concerning this policy and review your handbook even though you indicate that there is no written policy in the handbook. Please feel free to contact me by email and leave a phone number and some good times to call.
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