NYDOL Issues Slightly Revised Emergency Regulations Regarding Mandatory Overtime for Nurses

On October 6, the New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) issued slightly revised emergency regulations (first adopted on October 13, 2009 and subsequently extended on February 3, 2010, April 28, 2010 and July 9, 2010). The revised emergency regulations are effective until January 3, 2011. As we reported in prior issues of the New Jersey eAuthority, these regulations: 1) clarify circumstances under which various types of emergencies will allow health care employers to use mandatory overtime to cover nurse staffing needs; (2) set forth the minimum elements to be addressed in the required Nurse Coverage Plan; and (3) require that the Plan be posted and made available to the Commissioner, nursing staff and their employee representatives. The most notable change of the revised regulations sets forth two additional minimum elements to be addressed in the required Nurse Coverage Plan. The Plan now must: 1) identify the supervisor or administrator who will make the final determination as to whether mandatory overtime is necessary and 2) if the health care employer does not utilize mandatory overtime, the employer must maintain documentation of such efforts to avoid the use of mandatory overtime and provide such documentation, upon request, to the nurse (or the nurse’s collective bargaining representative) who is required to work mandatory overtime.