I am inquiring as to whether hourly paid nurses in a hospital setting can be required to take call on days off and not be compensated for this. I work 12 hours days, which includes a 3 day weekend every other weekend. We are required to take a call day on one weekend off and another weekday during one month. We have to be available to be called from 5:00 to 7:00. If we refuse to come in it is a unexcused absence. We are not paid for this time. Being on call limits your ability to plan your own days off. Since we only have 2 weekends off a month, then you can only make plans to do something one weekend a month. This does not seem fair, as we are not compensated for waiting by the phone. What are our rights as nurses in Mississippi regarding this call policy?

It depends on how much autonomy you have during the time you are on-call. How long do you have to get to work when you are called and how often do you get called in on a typical on-call day?

They want us there within 2 hours. At which time, we are then required to complete the 12 hour shift that we are called in to cover. We have to be by a phone from 5:00 - 7:00. This responsiblilty of call prevents us from being able to travel on our 3 day weekend off, especially if you are the unfortunate one to have to be on call for Saturday. It is impossible to make plans for your days off because you have to plan to work in case someone calls in. There may be a few months that go by that I never get called in, then in one month I may be called in 3 times. I feel that since we work 12 hour shifts that we need our other days to fulfill our own life's desires and life's needs and responsibilities. It seems unfair that we can only do this after 7:00. I did fail to mention that the facility I work for is quick to say it is an "assist list" no a call list. Yet we have to be available to be "called" in. Not sure what they think the difference is, but they quickly correct you if you say call list. Thanks for your quick reply.

Well, 2 hours is a pretty long time. You may have to be by a phone, but that doesn't mean it can't be a cell phone. You could go to church, shopping, a movie, etc. No, you can't take a 3-day weekend during your call weekends. But I'm not sure that would be restrictive enough to require payment for just sitting and waiting.

You can contact the federal Dept. of Labor to inquire, as these situations are often quite subjective.

Thanks for your reply. I actually emailed the department of labor wage and hour division earlier today.

I actually emailed the department of labor wage and hour division earlier today.

Please be sure to share the results of that contact! I know several people who will be interested to hear what the DOL says about that. :)