The Prohibition On Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act, signed by Governor Rendell last October, takes effect on July 1, 2009. The Act, which broadly covers all nonprofit and for-profit health care facilities operating in Pennsylvania, prohibits these employers from requiring employees involved in direct patient care to work in excess of an agreed to, predetermined, and regularly scheduled daily shift. In other words, health care facilities can no longer rely on mandatory overtime to fill staffing needs on a routine basis. While the Act does include exceptions for unforeseeable emergencies, the circumstances under which an exception will apply are extremely narrow. The impact of the new law may be greatest for facilities which do not have 24-hour staffing. All health care facilities should review their staffing procedures, and may benefit from talking with their employees about the willingness to work overtime on a voluntary basis.
For more information about the Prohibition On Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act, please read our October 20, 2008 Alert, entitled "Pennsylvania's New Law Prohibits Mandatory Overtime for Nurses," available on our website at http://www.cozen.com/admin/files/publications/Labor102008.pdf.
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