Even before the pandemic, which pushed health facilities to their capacity limits and beyond, there was a shortage of medical staff. Since COVID first appeared in the U.S. in early 2020, the problem has only increased. Staff shortages are one of the main reasons nurses and CNAs are forced to work overtime. When health facilities do not have enough qualified staff, workers are forced to take on more hours and more responsibilities. PTO buyback programs encourage nurses to use sick leave only when it is actually needed. The term overtime is often debated. Often, employers make the term ambiguous and unstable, allowing them to demand more hours from their nurses, CNA and other employees while paying less overtime and without fear of losing successful lawsuits. Prohibits mandatory overtime (2002).
Minnesota legislation lists 12 consecutive hours or less as “normal hours of work” for nurses, which they cannot exceed without urgency. First, the nurse must volunteer or agree to work overtime. Employers who schedule overtime should prioritize employees who voluntarily work overtime. Employers can respond more effectively to unexpected absences and other nursing coverage issues with Swipeclock`s WorkforceHub. There are several exceptions to the prohibition of mandatory overtime for nurses. The human circadian rhythm strongly promotes sleep during the night. Although one study found that nurses who worked permanent night shifts or rotated shifts slept more on average than nurses who worked day or night, nearly one-fifth of nurses reported difficulty staying awake while caring for a patient at least once in the past month (Lee, 1992). Another study found that falling asleep during the night shift occurred at least once a week in 35.3% of nurses who changed shifts, 32.4% of nurses who worked night shifts, and 20.7% of day or evening nurses who worked occasionally at night (Gold et al., 1992).
It was also found that nurses who worked night shifts or rotating shifts made more procedural errors and medication errors in the workplace due to drowsiness than nurses who worked other shifts. Drowsiness appeared to be limited to the night shift, as none of the shift rotators or day or evening nurses who occasionally worked at night reported significant difficulty staying alert in other shifts. Once an employer attempts to fill vacancies, they may require nurses to stay and continue to care for patients. Few studies have shown that clinical performance is impaired by lack of sleep. Unlike previous studies, more recent studies were tightly controlled. Previous methodological shortcomings (e.g. Tests that were too short or evidence-based knowledge tested that are relatively insensitive to sleep deprivation, contained performance incentives, or most importantly, did not control residents` actual sleep schedules before and during studies (Weigner & Ancoli-Israel, 2002) have been corrected. Researchers no longer expect to find differences between “rested” residents, e.g., those who slept more than 4 hours (Bartle et al., 1988; Deaconson et al., 1988; Light et al., 1989), more than 5 hours of sleep (Hawkins et al., 1985; Reznick & Folse, 1985) or “normal” sleep (Denisco et al., 1987; Storer et al., 1989) or were not on call (Orton & Gruzelier, 1989) – and “tired” residents. They assume that all residents have a significant sleep deficit, even those who are tested when they are not on call (Weigner & Ancoli-Israel, 2002).
Mandatory overtime, also known as forced overtime, occurs when employees, including nurses and CNAs, are forced to work more hours than they contractually agreed to work when they were hired (which is usually 40 hours per week). If a nurse works longer than a 14-hour shift, she must voluntarily agree to work a 16-hour shift. This shift must take place between Friday evening and Monday morning. It covers from Friday at 17:00 to Monday at 8:00. Any nurse who works a 16-hour shift must receive and receive the same benefits as a nurse who works 20 hours. The law assumes that these two nurses are in the same situation. Minnesota has another important part of its overtime law. It concerns employers in the health sector and salaried nurses. Minnesota law defines a regular workweek as a predetermined shift of 12 hours or less in a day.
Employees who refuse to work overtime cannot be punished, discriminated against, retaliated, fired or punished.