Salary Employee

[NewIyn]

Hello,

I am a RN Case Manager and salaried employee at a local hospital for the past 3 months. Currently, I am working 60-65hrs week(sometimes 70+). The CFO refuses to hire needed personal to create a 40hr work week for me and the only other case manager(CM) in the hospital. We have brought our concerns of excessive hours to the CFO. There has been a large turnover in CMs at this particular hospital. I was originally hired at their sister hospital and due to urgency of filling a CM position at this hospital(due to previous CM quitting without notice) I agreed to transfer to help out, with the understanding I would be hired under the same conditions.  I am a single mom with a young daughter and my original agreement was to work M-F with hours of approximately 6:30-3. Well, in order to complete the necessary tasks each day, I have had to work 5:00 AM to 5-6PM. Also, I have been coming in on Sunday my day off in order not to work 17-19hrs each Monday. Yesterday I was notified that me and the only other CM would be expected to rotate staying until 7PM(still expected to come in at the same insane time of 5-7) and take call for free. There has to be a limit. I am really frustrated and physically exhausted. Are there any laws to protect me? I thought employers were obligated to make each job position a possible 40-45hr work week. I feel defeated, unappreciated, and undervalued as a employee. When do I have time to be the mother that my daughter so desires and most of all deserves.

[Colley]

Shelley:

If you are truly an exempt salaried employee,(and this depends on the type of work you do, not just on how you are paid), then I'm afraid you are essentially at the mercy of the employer regarding your work hours.  However, it may be in your interest to look into whether your duties meet the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA) for exemption from entitlement to overtime compensation.  Please take a look at this web site to get a general feel for the so called "white collar exemptions", and if you feel your job may not meet the requirements for any of the exemptions, you should contact the nearest office of the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division(WHD) and/ or a local employment attorney experienced in wage and hour claims. www.dol.gov/whd

On this page, look under "Wages" and click on "Overtime Pay."

Also, on the home page of the WHD web site there is a map where you can click on your state to locate the nearest WHD office.   

If you don't know an employment attorney, you can get a referral from the city or county bar association by putting the name of your city and county and the words "bar association attorney referral" into a good search engine.  This will get you a link to the appropriate bar association web site. I hope you find this helpful.