Fall Reminders

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

NIGHT SHIFT: as per long standing past practice and the contractual right for OT, night shift workers who work the night the clocks go back one hour receive time and a half for the final hour of their shift (section 6.02).

ELECTION DAY

DAY SHIFT: if you are scheduled to work on election day (Nov.7, 2023), and you do not have 4 hours at the beginning or end of your shift to vote during poll hours, and you have not been able to take advantage of early voting, you can request, in writing, (must be in advance, between 2 & 10 working days prior to Election Day), up to 2 hours off, paid, to vote, at the beginning or end of your shift. This is a law, (Section 3-110 of the New York State Election Law), also codified in the contract (Section 7.04).

SICK TIME BUY BACK

At the end of October a calculation is done on your available and used sick time. If you have more than 450 hours in your sick bank, you can request payment of any hours over 450 up to 90 hours minus any hours of sick time over the previous 12 months. If you have 90 hours in your accrued bank, you can use up to 45 hours of sick time minus any hours used over the previous 12 months. You can also choose to donate such hours (or do a combination of the two) to our NYSNA sick bank for catastrophic illness and injuries. This money is administered by the NYSNA EC, not Monte management, and follows specific objective criteria. It has rescued many nurses from tragic consequences in the past so please consider this donation.

In addition, when you retire, you do not gain anything from your sick hours. However you can choose to donate 37.5 hours of your time to the NYSNA sick bank instead of leaving the money to Montefiore management. We strongly urge this donation for the above reasons.

(Sections 7.09 & 19.11)

SENIORITY LIST

A seniority list is generated in each unit in October of each year. If you believe your seniority date is wrong or the date for a nurse on your unit is wrong, you must, in writing, file a protest of the list as soon as it is posted. Seniority is important for layoff/displacement; vacation selection; and status or shift transfer in each unit (Section 4.13; also see sections 4.09, 4.10, 4.11 4.12 & 4.16))

VACATION SELECTION

In units with many nurses vacation selection is based on a formula that ensures each nurse can take their allotted vacation weeks (# of nurse x # of weeks per nurse divided by 52 and rounded up). The granting of vacation weeks must be transparent—the list can’t be hidden. This is best facilitated by posting granted time publicly, by seniority, in the unit. If you suspect that this is not being done correctly, notify the union after your initial inquiry on your unit.

You are permitted to use accrued vacation hours when plotting your vacation.

BE AWARE: If your available balance on your anniversary date is not used within 60 days after your NEXT YEAR’s anniversary date, these hours disappear from Kronos. BE SURE TO DOCUMENT ALL VACATION HOURS REQUESTS. If they are not granted in spite of your request to use these hours, replacing them in your bank is much easier. It is best to not face this situation because of Monte’s famous bureaucracy (Sections 7.05. 7.06, 7.07 & 7.08).

HOLIDAY REQUESTS

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays are often the highest demand requests. Traditionally, in the in-patient units, nurses are required to work either Christmas or New Years, including working one eve and one day in combination, unless staffing allows for a better benefit (which, with 12 hour shifts is often the case). Granting of time MUST BE EQUITABLE. There is not an easy formulaic way to achieve equitability but one concept is that if your request is not granted one year, it should be granted the following year. KEEP ALL WRITTEN REQUESTS IN A PERSONAL FILE TO PROVE THIS. Thanksgiving should also be rotated in a similar manner. Night nurses must be granted the eve if that is the holiday of their choice. Premium pay is NOT granted for the eve. If you suspect consistent favoritism, please inquire on your unit and if not satisfied, contact a union rep. If two nurses face the same situation, seniority will be determinant for that one episode only (Sections 7.01, 7.02 & 7.03 and general seniority rules for “ties”).