SB 28: "An Act relating to limitations on mandatory overtime for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in health care facilities; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 28 01 "An Act relating to limitations on mandatory overtime for registered nurses and 02 licensed practical nurses in health care facilities; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. The legislature finds that 07 (1) it is essential that registered nurses and licensed practical nurses providing 08 direct patient care be available to meet the needs of patients; 09 (2) quality patient care is jeopardized by registered nurses and licensed 10 practical nurses who work unnecessarily long hours in health care facilities; 11 (3) registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are leaving their profession 12 because of workplace stresses, long work hours, and depreciation of their essential role in the 13 delivery of quality and direct patient care; 14 (4) it is necessary to safeguard the efficiency, health, and general well-being
01 of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, and the health and general well-being of the 02 persons receiving care from registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in health care 03 facilities; 04 (5) it is necessary that registered nurses and licensed practical nurses be made 05 aware of their rights, duties, and remedies concerning hours worked and patient safety; and 06 (6) health care facilities should provide adequate and safe nurse staffing 07 without the need for or use of mandatory overtime. 08 * Sec. 2. AS 18.20 is amended by adding new sections to read: 09 Article 4. Overtime Limitations for Nurses. 10 Sec. 18.20.400. Limitations on nursing overtime. (a) Except as provided in 11 (b) of this section, a nurse in a health care facility may not be required or coerced, 12 directly or indirectly, to work over 12 consecutive hours or 80 hours in a 14-day 13 period, or to accept an assignment of overtime if, in the judgment of the nurse, the 14 overtime would jeopardize patient or employee safety. After working 12 consecutive 15 hours, a nurse shall be allowed not less than 12 consecutive hours of off-duty time 16 immediately following the end of that work. 17 (b) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to 18 (1) a nurse on duty in overtime status because of an unforeseen 19 emergency situation that could otherwise jeopardize patient safety; 20 (2) a nurse fulfilling on-call time that is agreed upon by the nurse and a 21 health care facility before it is scheduled; 22 (3) a nurse voluntarily working overtime so long as the work is 23 consistent with professional standards of safe patient care and does not exceed 14 24 consecutive hours; 25 (4) a nurse voluntarily working over 80 hours in a 14-day period so 26 long as the nurse does not work more than 14 consecutive hours without a 12-hour 27 break and the work is consistent with professional standards and safe patient care; 28 (5) the first hour on overtime status when the health care facility is 29 obtaining another nurse to work in place of the nurse in overtime status. 30 (c) A health care facility shall provide for an anonymous process for patients 31 and nurses to make complaints related to staffing levels and patient safety.
01 (d) In this section, "unforeseen emergency situation" means an unusual, 02 unpredictable, or unforeseen situation caused by an act of terrorism, disease outbreak, 03 natural disaster, or other act of God, but does not include a situation in which a health 04 care facility has reasonable knowledge of increased patient volume or inadequate 05 staffing because of staff scheduling, vacations, medical leave, or other foreseeable 06 cause. 07 Sec. 18.20.410. Prohibition of retaliation. A health care facility may not 08 discharge, discipline, threaten, discriminate against, penalize, or file a report with the 09 Board of Nursing against a nurse for exercising rights under AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 10 or for the good faith reporting of an alleged violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450. 11 Sec. 18.20.420. Enforcement, offenses, and penalties. (a) The commissioner 12 shall administer AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 and adopt regulations for implementing and 13 enforcing AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450. 14 (b) A complaint alleging a violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 must be filed 15 with the commissioner within 30 days after the date of the alleged violation. The 16 commissioner shall provide a copy of the complaint to the health care facility named 17 in the filing within three business days after receiving the complaint. 18 (c) If the commissioner finds that a health care facility has knowingly violated 19 an overtime provision of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450, the following civil penalties shall 20 apply: 21 (1) for a first violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450, the health care 22 facility shall receive a reprimand and shall pay a nurse required to work in violation of 23 AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 three times the nurse's hourly compensation for each hour 24 worked in violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450; 25 (2) for a second violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 within 12 26 months, the health care facility shall receive a reprimand, shall be assessed a penalty 27 of $500, and shall pay a nurse required to work in violation of AS 18.20.400 - 28 18.20.450 three times the nurse's hourly compensation for each hour worked in 29 violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450; 30 (3) for a third violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 within 12 months, 31 the health care facility shall receive a reprimand, shall be assessed a penalty of not less
01 than $2,500 but not more than $5,000, and shall pay a nurse required to work in 02 violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 three times the nurse's hourly compensation for 03 each hour worked in violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450; 04 (4) for each violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 after a third 05 overtime violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 within 12 months, the health care 06 facility shall receive a public reprimand, shall be assessed a penalty of not less than 07 $5,000 but not more than $25,000, and shall pay a nurse required to work in violation 08 of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450 three times the nurse's hourly compensation for each 09 hour worked in violation of AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450. 10 (d) In this section, "commissioner" means the commissioner of labor and 11 workforce development. 12 Sec. 18.20.430. Report requirements. A health care facility shall file a 13 semiannual report with the section in the Department of Labor and Workforce 14 Development responsible for research and analysis. The report for the six-month 15 period ending June 30 must be filed before the following August 1, and the report for 16 the six-month period ending December 31 must be filed before the following 17 February 1. The report must include, for each nurse employed by the health care 18 facility or under contract with the health care facility, the number of overtime hours 19 worked, the number of overtime hours that were mandatory, the number of overtime 20 hours that were voluntary, the number of on-call hours, the number of on-call hours 21 that were mandatory, and the number of on-call hours that were voluntary. 22 Sec. 18.20.450. Definitions. In AS 18.20.400 - 18.20.450, 23 (1) "health care facility" means a private, municipal, state, or federal 24 hospital; psychiatric hospital; independent diagnostic testing facility; residential 25 psychiatric treatment center; skilled nursing facility; kidney disease treatment center 26 (including freestanding hemodialysis units); intermediate care facility; ambulatory 27 surgical facility; Alaska Pioneers' Home or Alaska Veterans' Home administered by 28 the Department of Health and Social Services under AS 47.55; correctional facility 29 administered by the Department of Corrections or the Department of Health and 30 Social Services; private, municipal, state, or federal facility employing one or more 31 public health nurses; long-term care facility; or primary care outpatient facility;
01 (2) "knowingly" means for a person to be aware, with respect to 02 conduct or to a circumstance described by a provision of this chapter, that the person's 03 conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists; when knowledge of the 04 existence of a particular fact is required, that knowledge is established if a person is 05 aware of a substantial probability of its existence, unless the person reasonably 06 believes it does not exist; 07 (3) "nurse" means an individual licensed to practice registered nursing 08 or practical nursing under AS 08.68 who provides nursing services through direct 09 patient care or clinical services and includes a nurse manager when delivering in- 10 hospital patient care; 11 (4) "on-call" means a status in which a nurse must be ready to report to 12 the health care facility and may be called to work by the health care facility; 13 (5) "overtime" means the hours worked in excess of a predetermined 14 and regularly scheduled shift that is agreed upon by a nurse and a health care facility. 15 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 16 read: 17 APPLICABILITY. The first report required to be filed under AS 18.20.430, enacted in 18 sec. 2 of this Act, shall be filed before February 1, 2008, for the period July 1, 2007, through 19 December 31, 2007. 20 * Sec. 4. AS 18.20.430, enacted in sec. 2 of this Act, and sec. 3 of this Act take effect 21 July 1, 2007. 22 * Sec. 5. Except as provided in sec. 4 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2008.