Legislature(2023 - 2024)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
04/29/2024 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s): Alaska Labor Relations Agency | |
| SB211 | |
| SB257 | |
| SB153 | |
| HB17 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 211 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 257 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 153 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 17 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 153-OVERTIME PAY EXEMPTION
2:39:04 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 153 "An Act exempting certain
employees from overtime pay requirements; and providing for an
effective date."
2:39:45 PM
JEREMY APPLEGATE, Chief Investigator, Wage and Hour, Labor
Standards and Safety, Department of Labor and Workforce
Development (DOLWD), Anchorage, Alaska, provided a recap of SB
153. He said SB 153, if passed, would amend the existing
voluntary flexible work hour plan framework to allow businesses
licensed under Alaska Statute 47.32.010 (b)(1), (4),(5),(6),(8),
and/or (12) through (14), to enter into plans that allow for an
exemption for overtime when the employees work up to 12 hours in
a single day, not to exceed 40 hours in a single work week. The
current Flex Plan statute allows for an exemption for up to 10
hours per day for all businesses with the plan approved by the
Department.
2:40:32 PM
MR. APPLEGATE said these plans are entered into voluntarily by
employees. They are reviewed and approved by the Department, and
serve the purpose of allowing flexibility in staffing,
benefiting employees by giving them the option of trading the
applicability of some overtime for the purpose of compressing
work time into lesser days, allowing for extra days off.
However, this exemption is limited in that any work performed
outside the established plan is paid as overtime as well as any
time worked over 40 hours in a work week.
2:41:21 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR referred to a letter opposing SB 153 from the
Alaska Nurses Association. He asked whether Mr. Applegate could
comment on the issues raised in the letter.
2:41:47 PM
MR. APPLEGATE said he would not want to speak directly against
the letter. He said the letter appeared to address time worked
over 12 hours in a day. Those hours would still be considered
overtime and all employees could be required to work overtime.
He said the passage of SB 153 would not eliminate the obligation
of them to work overtime if asked by their employer. SB 153
simply allows the employee to compress their hours into shorter
workdays for the purposes of hopefully gaining more time off for
rest and family life balance.
2:43:00 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN opened public testimony on SB 153.
2:43:23 PM
JOELLE HALL, President, Alaska AFL-CIO, Peters Creek, Alaska
testified in opposition to SB 153. She noted that the Alaska
Nurses Association, Local 341 are all members of the Alaska AFL-
CIO and she highlighted the decades of advocacy to the
legislature on behalf of the union by herself and Don Ethridge.
She pointed out that no other industry repeatedly sought
legislative exemptions for worker conditions like the nursing
industry, apparently aiming to take money from nurses' pockets.
She criticized the persistent attempts by a private industry,
the nursing industry, to change overtime rules, citing past
instances of mandatory overtime, overtime exemptions, and nurse
compacting. Hall expressed frustration with the industry using
the legislature to resolve HR issues, calling it a manipulative
practice that has persisted for decades. She urged the committee
to reject the bill, insisting that private sector hospitals,
which she described as public, or private with a public mission,
should comply with Alaska law like other industries. She said
she hoped everybody on this committee would continue to serve in
this body for a very long time and would have the opportunity to
see industries that show up year over year over year asking to
treat their workers differently than employees in other
industries and be recognized for their intentions. She suggested
that after they have been working in the legislature for a
while, they would grow as tired of it as she was. She urged the
committee to oppose SB 153.
2:46:18 PM
SHANNON DAVENPORT, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska,
testified in opposition to SB 153. She introduced herself as a
surgery center nurse, hospice nurse, and President of the Alaska
Nursing Association and highlighted her current ability to work
a 10-hour day, 4-day workweek, and the supportive work
environment that allows for a good work-life balance. She
explained the potential consequences of switching to a 12-hour
overtime exemption, including the necessity to sign a contract
for 12-hour shifts and the lack of job security if the contract
is not signed. She pointed out the existing overtime 10-hour
exemption law and questioned the need for an additional 12-hour
exemption, which would reduce nurses' extra income. She
described the challenges of meeting the 40-hour workweek
requirement when surgery schedules do not align with the 12-hour
shift, leading to the use of personal paid time off or unpaid
time to fill the 40-hour commitment.
MS. DAVENPORT emphasized the commitment of nurses to patients
and families in hospice care, even when it means working beyond
the 12-hour shift. She said they stay to care for that family or
that patient, because that is an oath they took as nurses.
MS. DAVENPORT said nurses were leaving surgery centers to work
in hospital settings. She shared her experience transitioning
from the hospital setting to a surgery center to achieve a
better work-life balance, highlighting the importance of being
able to spend time with family and enjoy holidays.
MS. DAVENPORT urged the committee to oppose SB 153 for the sake
of nurses and the community, noting that she represented the
many nurses who cannot leave their patients to testify.
2:50:19 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN asked whether the hospital she left to work in
the surgery center had an exemption such as the one proposed by
SB 153.
2:50:39 PM
MS. DAVENPORT affirmed that it did.
2:50:43 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR noted that nursing is a large and complicated
industry. He noted that CRNAs were able to have flexible
schedules and asked whether that was because they're billed in a
different way, or are on a salary, or that pay varies by
location.
2:51:29 PM
MS. DAVENPORT said all of those [various pay scenarios] applied.
She said CRNAs have certain schedules depending on their
location and the contract that funds their work. She said their
contracts are different from nurses because they are advanced
practice nurses under different guidelines than operating room
nurses or recovery room nurses. She said it would also depend on
whether they were privately sponsored certified CRNAs, or if
they were part of a company.
2:52:11 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR sought to confirm his impression that three
twelve-hour days were usually more desirable than the four ten-
hour days or the five eight-hour days. He conjectured that
personnel on contracts were essentially salaried at the
hospital, and so it wouldn't significantly impact their pay,
whereas, for nurses in positions similar to Ms. Davenport's, it
would impact pay. He asked whether that was accurate.
2:52:42 PM
MS. DAVENPORT affirmed his assessment and provided a clarifying
comparative example. She said nurses with 12-hour schedules are
still paid for their full shift even if cases are canceled or
completed early, unlike nurses in settings like hers who
essentially face pay cuts.
2:53:40 PM
PAM VENTGEN, Executive Director, Alaska State Medical
Association, Anchorage, Alaska, testified in support of SB 153.
She spoke on behalf of physicians who own or interact with
surgery centers in Alaska. She said the surgery centers have
difficulty hiring nurses who want to move from the hospital
setting to the surgery center setting, because the nurses want
to work 12-hour shifts, and they can't do that easily at the
surgery center. She said SB 153 would allow nurses to work 12-
hour shifts if they wanted to, but it does not in any way
require them or force them into a 12-hour shift. She said nurses
are accustomed to working 12-hour shifts which allow them to
work three days a week, giving them greater flexibility with
home life, and it can greatly reduce childcare costs. She said
SB 153 would allow nurses the flexibility that they have asked
for and she encouraged the committee to support SB 153 on that
account.
2:55:15 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR observed again that the nursing industry was
complicated. He asked whether surgery centers were currently
prohibited from offering 12-hour shifts for nurses; and if they
did provide for 12-hour shifts, he asked if they would be
required to pay overtime.
2:55:40 PM
MS. VENTGEN affirmed that if the nurses work more than 10 hours
a day, the surgery center would have to pay overtime, but they
can't cut the pay. She said SB 153 was introduced at the request
of surgery center employees and nurses who wanted to work at
surgery centers and were unable to get the 12-hour shifts they
wanted.
2:56:15 PM
SENATOR DUNBAR suggested that surgery centers having difficulty
recruiting nurses away from hospitals because of the 12-hour
shift issue could offer overtime as an incentive, along with 12-
hour shifts. He asked whether there was something legally
preventing them from doing that, or if it was basically an
economic issue.
2:56:47 PM
MS. VENTGEN said she did not know [whether it was a legal or
economic issue]. She said she had been told by multiple
physicians SB 153 was introduced to support the nurses who
wanted to move from the hospital setting to the surgery center
setting.
2:57:20 PM
DONNA PHILLIPS, Labor Council Chair, Alaska Nurses Association,
Girdwood, Alaska, testified in opposition to SB 153. She
clarified that Alaska state law allows hospitals to avoid paying
overtime for 12-hour shifts by defaulting to federal law. But
she said it was industry standard in Alaska that nurses receive
overtime pay, largely due to collective bargaining. She said
recruitment issues are not related to shift length but rather to
the flexibility and work-life balance offered by surgery centers
which offer schedules without night, weekend, or holiday work, a
significant attraction for nurses. She said surgery centers
could pay overtime and that some already do when shifts extend
beyond what is scheduled. She reiterated her opposition and said
SB 153 would erode current systems and agreements in place.
2:59:45 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN closed public testimony on SB 153.
2:59:59 PM
At ease
3:00:24 PM
CHAIR BJORKMAN reconvened the meeting and held SB 153 in the
Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.