
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA.
As of January 2023, California law requires that public hospital employers pay an additional one hour of penalty pay every time they force nurses to work through their shifts without meal or rest breaks.
Alameda Health System nurses wrote this mandate explicitly into their union contract last year, including that the penalty pay must be paid in the paycheck in which the missed break occurs. However, many months later, nurses are still not being paid on time for their missed meals and breaks!
Management states that the payments will be calculated and paid in a lump sum at a later date – a plan that is in direct conflict with the contract they agreed to last year. Nurses not only have to work long shifts with no breaks due to management’s short staffing, they now also have to file grievances simply to be paid correctly. Management needs to stop the delays and pay nurses on time!
Click here to read the article printed in the 01-29-25 Healthcare Newsletter