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Brent's Law

Nancy J. Brent, RN, MS, JD received her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and concentrates her own solo law practice in health law and legal representation, consultation, and education for health care professionals, school of nursing faculty, and health care delivery facilities.

Brent has conducted many seminars on legal issues in nursing and health care delivery across the country and has published extensively in the area of law and nursing practice.


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At my hospital, nurses who work weekends only don’t receive any sick days. Is there any way to change that?
Friday October 31, 2008
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Question:

Dear Nancy,

I work as an RN on a weekend program. The hours are great, allowing me the time to complete my master’s degree. Employers often promote weekend programs with statements like “work weekends and get paid full time.” This is because many nurses are not willing to work weekends, creating a demand for weekend help. However, there are strings attached to this seemingly ideal situation. If you call in sick, you lose your weekend rate for that entire pay period; it drops down to a base rate that is substantially lower. In essence, you’re punished for being sick, which seems discriminatory. I have already gone to work being really sick, which to me is a safety issue. I feel that weekend program nurses should receive the same regard as full-time nurses in respect to being sick; after all we are giving up our valuable weekends, which the other nurses don’t want to work. I know that we work considerably fewer hours, but at least two or three sick days a year should be included proportionally into the program. You can't control when you get sick, and to me this is discrimination.

James



Nancy Brent replies:

Dear James,

A consultation with a nurse attorney or attorney in your state can provide you with a specific answer or answers to your current situation. Generally, though, it appears that you have entered into a contract with this employer and agreed to the terms of the weekend program, including what happens when one calls in sick for that weekend time period. Thus, an agreement was reached between you and the employer (the “parties”). In contract law, one way to alter an agreement is to amend the original one. Your attorney can advise you on the feasibility of changing the call-in-sick provisions.

It is important to state that regardless of the impact upon one’s paycheck, showing up “sick” for work is not a good idea, as you stated. Doing so may create legal issues for the nurse who does so (e.g., not thinking clearly, missing necessary patient assessment clues) and certainly raises ethical concerns as well, including exposing patients to one’s current malady.

You may also want to consider if this arrangement is one in which you can continue to participate. When one is not happy with an agreement entered into, one can displace that unhappiness onto the work environment and, in this case, patient care. Your attorney can also advise you if you are able to end the contract and what, if any, legal ramifications might exist in doing so.

Sincerely,
Nancy



Nancy J. Brent, RN, MS, JD, is an attorney in private practice in Wilmette, Ill. This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as legal or any other advice. The reader is encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney or other professional when an opinion is needed.



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