Chapter
496
2007 -- S 0029 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 10/30/07
A N A C T
RELATING TO HEALTH
AND SAFETY - - HEALTH CARE FACILITIES STAFFING
Introduced By: Senators Tassoni, Goodwin, Ruggerio, Lanzi, and Ciccone
Date Introduced: January 09, 2007
It is
enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is
hereby
amended
by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER 17.20
HEALTH CARE FACILITIES STAFFING
23-17.20-1.
Purpose. -- It is declared to be the public policy of this state to
establish a
maximum
workday for certain hourly wage employees as defined herein, beyond which the
employees
cannot be required to perform overtime work, in order to safeguard their
health,
efficiency,
and general well-being, as well as the health and general well-being of the
persons to
whom
these employees provide services.
23-17.20-2.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter:
(1)
“Employee” means a nurse licensed pursuant to chapter 5-34, and a certified
nurse
assistant
registered pursuant to chapter 23-17.9, provided further, that such term shall
not include
certified
registered nurse anesthetists or resident physicians; and provided further,
that for
purposes
of this chapter, said nurse and/or nursing assistant shall be paid on the basis
of an hourly
wage.
As used in this chapter, the term “employee” shall not include a person who is
paid an
annual
salary, and shall not include employees who are working pre-scheduled “on-call
time” in
the
surgical department of a health care facility.
(2)
“Employer” means a person, partnership, association, corporation or group of
persons
acting
directly or indirectly in the interest of a health care facility;
(3)
“Health care facility” means any private, public or state hospital;
(4)
“Regular hourly wage” means the amount that an employee is regularly paid for
each
hour
of work as determined by dividing the total hours of work during the week into
the
employee’s
total earnings for the week, exclusive of pay for overtime work;
(5)
“Unforeseeable emergent circumstance” means an unpredictable occurrence
relating
to
health care delivery that requires immediate action, and which shall include a
major power
outage,
a public health emergency, an irregular increase in patient census, or an
irregular increase
in
the number of employees not reporting for predetermined scheduled work shifts.
(6)
“On-call time” means time spent by an employee who is not working on the
premises
of
the place of employment but who is compensated for availability or who, as a
condition of
employment,
has agreed to be available to return to the premises of the place of employment
on
short
notice if the need arises.
(7)
"Reasonable efforts" means that the employer shall: (a) seek persons
who volunteer to
work
extra time from all available qualified staff who are working at the time of
the
unforeseeable
emergent circumstance; (b) contact all qualified employees who have made
themselves
available to work extra time; and (c) seek the use of per diem staff.
23-17.20-3.
Overtime requirement. -- (a) No health care facility as defined
above shall
require
an employee to accept work in excess of an agreed to, predetermined scheduled
work shift
of
eight (8), ten (10), or twelve (12) hours.
(b)
No health care facility shall require an employee to work overtime in excess of
an
agreed
to, predetermined scheduled work shift of eight (8), ten (10), or twelve (12)
hours, except
in an
unforeseeable emergent circumstance. In no case shall a health care facility
require an
employee
to work in excess of twelve (12) consecutive hours. The refusal of any employee
to
accept
such overtime work shall not be grounds for discrimination, dismissal,
discharge, or any
other
penalty or employment decision adverse to the employee.
(c)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit voluntary overtime in
excess of an
agreed
to, predetermined scheduled work shift of eight (8), ten (10), or twelve (12)
hours.
(d)
The provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of an unforeseeable
emergent
circumstance
when: (1) the overtime is required only as a last resort and is not used to
fill
vacancies
resulting from chronic short staffing; and (2) the employer has exhausted
reasonable
efforts
to obtain staffing.
(e)
The requirement that the employer shall exhaust reasonable efforts to obtain
staffing
shall
not apply in the event of any declared national, state or municipal emergency
or a disaster or
other
catastrophic event which substantially affects or increases the need for health
care services.
23-17.20-4.
Penalty for violations. -- Any employer who violates or fails to
comply with
any
of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a fine of three hundred
dollars ($300) for
each
violation of this chapter, which shall be paid to the center for health
professions, as
established
in section 23-17.20.2. Until such time as the center for health professions is
operating,
the
fines shall be payable to the general fund. The department of labor and
training shall
determine
if a violation of this chapter occurs, and shall levy the appropriate fine.
23-17.20-5.
Collective bargaining agreements. -- The provisions of this chapter
shall
not
negate any employee rights or benefits existing under collective bargaining
agreements.
23-17.20-6.
Severability. -- If any provision of this chapter, or the
application of any
provision
to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter
and the
application
of the provision to other persons or circumstances are not affected by the
invalidity.
SECTION
2. This act shall take effect on March 4, 2008.
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