Are Registered Nurses Exempt Employees

Overtime Pay for RNs, LPNs/LVNs, Dental Administration, Sleep Techs, PAs, NPs and similar Medical / Healthcare Workers

The general dominion under federal overtime labor law is that all non-exempt employees must receive fourth dimension and 1-half the regular rate of pay after 40 hours of piece of work in a vii-day workweek. With regard to certain healthcare workers employed by a hospital, nursing dwelling, or sure other residential facilities, a system referred to as 8 and lxxx may also be used for determining overtime pay.

Who is Exempt in the Healthcare Industry?

The primary issue for healthcare and medical workers is determining if their detail job is or is non exempt from the overtime pay rules. If "exempt", the job is not 1 that must be paid overtime. If "non-exempt", the job is 1 that must exist paid overtime wages. An employee is exempt only if the employee meets ALL of the requirements of a specific exemption. The professional exemption is the focus of virtually cases involving healthcare workers. Just paying an employee on a per visit or salary basis does non make them exempt from overtime pay – while pay is a factor, it is not the merely requirement that must be met.

Is a Registered Nurse (RN) Overtime Exempt?

RNs, depending on their job duties and how they are paid, may be exempt or not-exempt. If an RN is paid a salary, supervises at least 2 employees and tin rent and burn down, they may meet the requirements for the executive exemption.

If an RN is performing professional nursing duties and is paid on either a salary footing or a fee basis, they may run into the requirements for the professional exemption.

Yet, if an RN is paid on an hourly basis, they will almost always be considered not-exempt and thus entitled to overtime pay.

Is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) & Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) Overtime Exempt?

Licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses and other similar medical workers more often than not do not authorize equally exempt learned professionals, regardless of work feel and training, because having a specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into such occupations.

In other words, even though they may be highly trained and experienced, they do not meet the formal educational requirements for the professional exemption. While it is possible for them to autumn nether another exemption, they are typically entitled to overtime pay, even if they are paid on a per visit or a salary basis.

Are Nurse Practitioners Overtime Exempt?

Courts have repeatedly held that nurse practitioners are not exempt equally "medical professionals" and are entitled to overtime pay, particularly where they are being paid hourly instead of on a bacon basis. This has also been the position of the U.S. Section of Labor, as stated in an opinion letter that concluded that nurse practitioners do not "practice medicine" as the Fair Labor Standards Act understands that term.

Are Utilization Management Nurses and Utilization Review Nurses Exempt from Overtime?

In many cases, the reply is NO, meaning Utilization Review Nurses should be paid overtime, fifty-fifty if they are paid on a salary basis.

Utilization Direction Nurses and Utilization Review Nurses (aka Medical Management Nurses, Nurse Reviewers, Intendance Direction Nurse, or similar task titles), working for insurance companies or service providers to insurance companies, are unremarkably misclassified as exempt from the overtime pay laws and paid a ready salary with no overtime premium.

Nurse Reviewers take been establish to be not-exempt and entitled to overtime pay by several courts. The proper nomenclature of Utilization Review Nurses as non-exempt does not focus solely on their licensing and qualifications, but rather on the "standardized" and structured type of "production" work they perform. Even where an RN license is required, if the duties performed mainly involve reviewing potency requests and applying pre-adamant guidelines and criteria to determine if the requested benefit, procedure, treatment, equipment, etc. should be covered by insurance, neither the exemption requirement for consistent exercise of independent judgment and discretion or administrative management/business operation are met.

Are Dental Hygienists Overtime Exempt?

Dental hygienists are entitled to overtime pay unless they have successfully completed four academic years of pre-professional and professional study in an accredited college or academy approved past the Commission on Accreditation of Dental and Dental Auxiliary Educational Programs of the American Dental Association.

Are Sleep Techs & Medical Technologists Overtime Exempt?

Unless they take successfully completed 3 bookish years of pre-professional person study in an accredited college or university plus a 4th yr of professional person form work in a school of medical technology approved by the Quango of Medical Education of the American Medical Association, Sleep Techs, Lab Technicians and registered or certified medical technologists will more often than not NOT meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption.

Are Physical or Occupational Therapy Assistants Overtime Exempt?

Therapy assistants do not come across the educational requirements necessary for the professional person exemption. Therefore, physical therapy assistants and certified occupational therapy assistants are usually entitled to overtime pay.

Are Physician Assistants (PA) Overtime Exempt?

Physician administration who have successfully completed 4 academic years of pre-professional and professional study, including graduation from a physician banana program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Didactics for the Dr. Assistant, and who are certified by the National Commission on Certification of Doctor Assistants generally meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption and are not required to exist paid overtime.

Common Overtime Pay Violations in the Healthcare World

Overtime pay violations ordinarily occur when healthcare employers:

Pay a salary to not-exempt employees, just do not pay overtime – misclassification as exempt employees.
Fail to pay overtime after 8 hours of work in a day for workers (both total time and part time) who are under the "8 and 80" system.
Pay overtime after 80 hours worked during a biweekly period rather than afterward twoscore hours in a workweek to employees NOT under the "eight and 80" organization (see below*).
Fail to combine hours worked in more than than one department or at more than than one facility when determining the full overtime hours worked.
Fail to include the time spent or hours worked during meal breaks or while attention staff meetings and compensable training sessions or performing on-call assignments.
Automatically deduct time from employees' time for meal breaks even when they worked through those breaks.
Alter fourth dimension records and/or force per unit area workers to work "off the clock" and not record overtime
Neglect to include shift differential, bonuses or on-call fees in calculating an employee's regular charge per unit.

Recent Case Case: Over 250 healthcare workers recovered back overtime wages where a large employer in long-term intendance and rehabilitation violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to include earned sign-on bonuses, retention bonuses and bonuses for working extra shifts in the calculation of overtime pay. By non including bonuses in the overtime adding, workers were paid overtime at rates lower than what is required by federal law.

Healthcare workers should not rely on their supervisor or Human Resources for critical information regarding the laws on overtime pay and how such apply to their specific job.

*8 and 80 Overtime Exception: Hospitals and other healthcare facilities may elect to apply the Viii and Eighty Overtime system for paying overtime. Nether this system, an employee must be paid time and a half pay for any hours worked over 8 in a workday and 80 in a 14-twenty-four hours period. For farther details, encounter this page.

Accept You Been Unfairly Classified as Exempt?

Considering of the strict fourth dimension limits imposed past the overtime pay laws, procrastination can exist costly. If you have whatsoever doubts as to your entitlement, contact the experts at The Lore Law Firm for a free and confidential review.

Call i-866-559-0400 or submit your information using our convenient Instance Evaluation course for a Gratuitous and CONFIDENTIAL review of your circumstances – because fourth dimension is money.