Termination consequences

[nursesong]

I see lots of great information here regarding picking wisely agencys etc. Has anybody ever been terminated or broken a contract because it was not a good fit?
Does anybody know the rights of the nurse involved and the rights of the staffing agency for the housing expenses and other related expenses and how long it should take to settle the issues? I hope these are loaded questions and hope for lots of responses! Thank you for this site to learn and stay safe as nurses!

[Sylvia321]

What does your contract state? If you signed a contract that states YOU are liable for expenses for any reason of termination (whether it is your fault or not) then it could be an expensive lesson learned on your part.

From what I have read over the years, the contracts between the agency and the hospital may have a statement in it saying the hospital can cancel without cause....meaning they can cancel for no reason whatso ever.

However- the contract between the nurse and the agency may be different and usually is slightly different. I have had agencies send me a contract that stated I'd pay them $200 per missed shift, and it didn't matter what the reason was for missing a shift, the hospital could cancel me for low census and I'd still be liable.. I did not sign that contract, it was with agostini, plus the recruiter,roy was very rude and immature, have heard other nurses say very negative things about him. Sorry, I digress.

Always,always document things that happen,even if you are not sure it is an issue, AND send emails to you recruiter and make sure you get a response,,This is your proof that you were keeping them informed of potential problems. IF you feel your life and/or license is in danger, then speak up right away, and make sure everything is documented. I would not stay in any area that I felt was unsafe, if they try to put you into an unsafe/substandard apt,etc do NOT accept the apt, call the agency rightaway and tell them they have to correct this problem right then and there.

Again it all depends on your contract and whether or not the agency will take you to court, it would usually be small claims court in the state they are located. Potential for court is another reason to have everything documented. It is your proof of problems and that you tried to correct it.

[donnarn7994]

It took me a while to catch on to the fact that the contract YOU sign with YOUR AGENCY can be so totally different than the contract YOUR COMPANY AND THE HOSPITAL sign. You are held liable for much more than you realize. I was able to get out of the contract before this without any bad results. I am now in a contract with the same company where as you said I am responsible for my hours during the week, not matter what If I am cancelled for low census, the money for my rent is taken out of the next check for how ever many hours I did not work. I recently had to have emergency surgery and missed my 36 hrs and was stunned when I got my check, for which they had taken out $400 for rent that week, even though I agreed to sign on for another 2 wks at the end of the contract. Then I had missed 2 days at the very beginning of the contract and one day later into the contract and my last check, they took out another $400 for rent. Needless to say, this has been a very bad contract with lots of write ups, unwarranted and ludicrous. I was written up for asking a charge nurse a simple question about how much needed to be done on an admit that came in toward the end of shift, say around between 0615 and 0700. Someone overheard and told the director. I do not feel comfortable with my license at this hospital, as there are too many "busy bodies" who had rather write people up than do patient care. I am going to write a nice letter to my agency as well the hospital and ask that my contract between myself and my agency, as well as the hospital be resolved. I have about 3-4 wks to go, not counting the time they have added on at the end of my contract and promised to reimburse me for the money they took out for rent. Sorry, but I feel it it time to move on! Donna

[maddy]

Hi, right now I am on assignment with a hospital in CA, my agency signed a different contract with them than they signed with me, and now they acknowledge their error, but want me to sign an amended contract. Also, the assignment is very intense, and I don't feel liscensure safe in the environment. I would like to terminate my contract, but know the agency will sue me for housing. Any ideas or advice? Thanks, Maddy

[TravelerDMRN]

I have had a few contract problems in my travel nursing career. I would say that this is the best time to evaluate the company for which you work.

I was cancelled on two contracts over a ten year period. I was with the same company (RN Network) for both assignments. The company did have to investigate (to make sure they were not going to send out an incompetent nurse on another assignment), but after they heard my side of things, they worked to get me into another hospital in the area and charges were minimal. Even when I was flat out cancelled from a contract, I don't recall there being much expense on my end. I must add that I have a history with this company, they know that I'm a good nurse, and I do make quite a bit of money for them each year by traveling.

If you have a long standing history with the company (and a good recruiter) you could break the contract and assure them you would turn around and take another assignment. They should value losing you over losing a contract.

Speak with your recruiter, be willing to be flexible, and see what they can work out if you break your contract. Again, if you are going to turn right back around and work for them, they might be willing to cut their losses and get out of the contract because they made the mistake on the one they signed with you.

If they really hold your feet to the fire, then figure out if you can make it through the contract where you are. If you can, follow your original contract ( I believe that one was for 36 hrs/week) and tell them you will not be bullied into signing a contract for something that was not conveyed or expected. Tell the hospital that you will only work 36 hrs/week because that is what your contract states. If they have issue, tell them to take it up with your company.

As far as housing, most companies keep certain apartments "open" at various places if you are in a popular city (they just replace you with another traveler cuz they keep the lease open). In that instance, they couldn't claim they were still losing money once you moved out.

If you were to walk on your assignment, and your company wont back you, then don't worry about your travel career being over, there are tons of companies that will take you in a heartbeat. They could hold rent for the unit for the amount of time you stayed or continue to stay in the apartment, but as far as charging the rent for the entire duration of the lease...I don't think they would be able to hold you to that.

Lets say you waited til you got paid, then walked on the assignment. For any days you worked, you probably wouldn't see any of it because the company would say they were owed it for rent. After that, if they wanted to try to push the issue, they wouldn't have any more of your money. To try to recap that money, they would have to sue you. First, I imagine it would be hard for a judge to award them anything once you weren't residing there anymore and second, I imagine their high priced lawyers would charge them more in fees than they would end up recovering from you.

The contracts we sign are dog ****. They are horrible in protecting travelers. Someday travel nurses might have enough of a voice to pressure the companies into writing a decent contract that actually protects us from ****ty hospitals. Until then, we have to assume some responsibility for what we sign.

Hope this helps or at least gives you some ideas that might take you in a better direction than where you are now.

[Sylvia321]

Hi, right now I am on assignment with a hospital in CA, my agency signed a different contract with them than they signed with me, and now they acknowledge their error, but want me to sign an amended contract. Also, the assignment is very intense, and I don't feel liscensure safe in the environment. I would like to terminate my contract, but know the agency will sue me for housing. Any ideas or advice? Thanks, Maddy

It is not YOUR prblem that the agency signed something different with the hospital. What matters is what is in YOUR contract with the agency. For example; If your contract with the agency says that you will work three 12 hour day shifts per week and the agencies contract with the hospital says you will work alternating shifts(days/nocs) with a mix of 12 hrs and 8 hr shifts. You are only obligated to work the three 12 hour shifts on days.

YOUR contract is between you and the agency NOT you and the hospital. Don't let them tell you any different. If you don't feel safe there, whether personal safety or licensure safe then DO NOT sign an amemded contract. You are not obligated to sign anything.

Maybe you will get lucky and the hospital will cancel your contract. As long as you did nothing wrong, the agency cannot hold you responsible for any fees, unless your contract says it can. Read it carefully.

Also, I have not had this happen to me, but have heard it happing to others. Most have direct deposit, I would advise, if able making sure in writing to your bank that no one is allowed to remove any money from your account without your written permission for each incident. I have heard that some agencies withdraw money and say it was owed to them. Some travelers have a specific account for the deposits to go in and as soon as the deposit is made by the agency, the traveler transfers it to another account in a different back. It is against the law for an employer to with-hold any money owed to you.

Sylvia

[donnarn7994]

I wanted to say thanks for all of the info that has been provided. It has been very helpful. I did quit my job. I faxed my letter of resignation to the recruiter as well as the director of the unit I was working on. This was Monday. Apparently no one got it because my agency called and was looking for my hrs worked last week. I guess I need to call my recruiter and talk with her. I wrote in my letter of resignation that I quit for health reasons, which is partly true since I did miss 2nd week because of illness, then two weeks later was out for 36 hrs that week after having emergency surgery, then the next week I missed 1 day with complications from the surgery and then two weeks after that I developed the flu or was sent home by the supervisor with fever 103, so I missed thos 36 hrs that week. So each week I missed work, they took out almost $400 for rent, the pay was low to begin with so I really wasn't bringing home enough money to pay bills. I never told my recruiter that I had been harassed since I had been there, esp by one of the night managers who told me "....if you don't call the Doctor and let him know what's going on, don't be surprised if you aren't fired in the morning" Needless to say I called the cardiologists PA, who stated "Is the patient stabe" "I stated yes" and he stated "Fine, no problems, I'll be in in an hour. I told him about the charge nurse and he was irate and offered to go to bat for me with the Director, Administrator, Day charge nurse, whomever I needed to state that my judgment call was correct. Another time I was "written up" because I asked a Night Charge Nurse (who said she never said anything) a question about what time in the morning did we stop doing complete assessments on pts we get in the morning. I had people later that I confronted about different issues state they were "pressured by upper management into making comments" One RN even wrote the director and charge of the unit and stated she wished to recant everything she said. There were so many other things, just BS stuff. I never told my recruiter any of this. Should I let my agency know or should I just keep quite, end my contract and look ahead to the future?

Donna:39:

[donnarn7994]

Gee, it just gets better each day. Since I quit my job and I am still in the apartment, which my resignation date was Wed. I was called today and told if I was not out of the apartment by tomorrow I would be escorted off the property by the police. How considerate. We spoke with the management and they said they had gotten no move out notice (apparently the travel company says they have someone to move in) and the office stated my rent was paid until the end of the month and they did not care how long I stayed until then. But, we are going to go skiing for 2 weeks at a resort so we are leaving Sunday, unless we DO get ESCORTED off the property. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Donna:whatever:

[hfergrn]

My goodness.....I would say you have the horror story of the week (maybe month)! Good luck to you and your next assignment. I hope all is much better for you. Have a good time on your break.

[desertangelrn]

Ok lets get down to verbage of contracts, many agencies or should I say all agencies have a clause in the contract which states the following :

"If a professional works less than the minium hours the professional agrees to agrees to remimburse the company $$$$ per hour and authorises the company to deduct from paycheck." Professional may work extra shifts and the deduction(s) will be reimbursed."

Ok so basicaly if you call in for what ever the reason then you are liable for housing charge for that shift. Straight forward and clear. Personaly signing a contract with this in it, I don't have a problem with it. The following is where I find the wording cloudy and a traveler can end up paying for housing because they worked less than the minium hours, and that relates to FACILITY CANCELATIONS, Yes without gauranteed hours or a gaurantee that no housing charges will be deducted from check as a result of hours lost due to facility cancelation then the traveler is screwed. Legaly with the wording in most contarcts they can deduct for housing with a facility cancelation. SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GAURANTEED HOURS CLAUSE OR NO DEDUCTION FOR FACILITY CANCELATION.

OK terminating a contract early for what ever reason again most contracts are stacked in favor of the agencies. You could be liable for housing in most or all cases. Interesting point stated in one of the replies above "most agencies keep leases open in a lot of areas" This is true ad when one traveler leaves another one is ready to move in. The agencies are protecting their interests. So if you are charged housing for terminating a contract, find out how long it took the agency to place a traveler in. A lot of time they will lie all tell you they can't anyone in. Ok back to terminating the contract, if the facility terminates the contract as a rule you will not be liable, unless the the termination by the facility was for Professional Misconduct.

So I will state the following : If there are problems arising other than health family issues etc such as your license put in danger, issues than are not favorable to you in working there. I will stated the following as nurses we have had the term document document. Any issue that arises document it with your recruiter the facility and even the board of nursing, health dept. do not call your recruiter use email, fax, letters etc. Ensure that some point early in the stage state to your recruiter that the situation is putting the agency in breach of contract. If the agency fails to address the issue then you cite breach of contract with the agency. This part is also important in the event that the facility cancels and states Professional Misconduct again document and tell the agency they are in brach of contract.

Termination due to health issues family issues I don't see how one can get around these.

Until Travelers push the issues with their agencies then nothing will change. Sadly as many contracts are 13 weeks long travelers don't have time or enegry to complain or put in writting issues, as a result many issues are brushed aside.