Nurses are an integral part of America's health care system. Not only do they provide necessary support to doctors and surgeons, but patients also look to them for care and compassion during difficult medical situations.
With a job this demanding, it is not hard to imagine that most nurses work long, hard hours at all times during the day and night. And since the need for medical care never stops, it is not uncommon for many nurses to work 50 or 60 hours in one week.
The Houston overtime attorneys at Kennedy Hodges want to remind nurses that their hours of service should not go unrecognized - making sure that as a nurse, you are paid a fair wage and proper overtime pay is critical.
One of the ways that employers fail to properly compensate them is by misclassifying nurses under the Learned Professional Exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This exemption would mean that a nurse is ineligible for overtime pay and minimum wages standards, as long as certain criteria are met.
The FLSA has strict guidelines for the Learned Professional Exemption, and nurses should only be exempt if all of the following are true:
- The nurse receives a salary of at least $455 per week
- The nurse's primary work duties must require advanced knowledge of the area in which he or she is working
- The nurse must have to exercise consistent discretion and judgment in her duties, and the work must be considered intellectual in character
- The "advanced knowledge" must be in the field of science or learning
- The "advanced knowledge" must be customarily acquired through a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction, such as through a college or university degree
Many times, Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), State Testing Nursing Assistants (STNAs) or other similar health care employees should not be classified as exempt, and are therefore eligible for overtime pay.
If you are a nurse who feels that he or she has been misclassified under the Learned Professional Exemption, or you are not receiving overtime compensation, the best thing you can do for yourself and your paycheck is to have an experienced Texas overtime lawyer review your situation. The lawyers at Kennedy Hodges will provide you with a free, no-obligation case evaluation, as well as a free copy of their book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Wage and Overtime Claim. Call them at 888.449.2068 or fill out their online form today.
