PRINTER'S NO. 2547
No. 1959 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY SURRA, VEON, GEORGE, DeLUCA, LEDERER, DeWEESE,
BELARDI, CAPPABIANCA, BELFANTI, CAPPELLI, LAUGHLIN, SHANER,
CALTAGIRONE, BEBKO-JONES, DALEY, YUDICHAK, CAWLEY, WANSACZ,
YOUNGBLOOD, WOJNAROSKI, HARHAI, READSHAW, CASORIO, BUXTON,
WALKO, THOMAS, SOLOBAY, JAMES, BISHOP, STEELMAN, COSTA,
WASHINGTON, J. WILLIAMS, OLIVER, RAYMOND, BUTKOVITZ, McCALL,
MELIO, STURLA, C. WILLIAMS, MANDERINO, CURRY, SAINATO,
TANGRETTI, WATERS, MICHLOVIC, MARKOSEK, GRUCELA, LaGROTTA,
JOSEPHS, DIVEN, M. COHEN, DiGIROLAMO, FREEMAN, TRICH,
PISTELLA, MAJOR AND STABACK, SEPTEMBER 26, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
SEPTEMBER 26, 2001
AN ACT
1 Prohibiting mandatory overtime and excessive duty hours of
2 health care workers.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Restricted
7 Overtime for Health Care Workers Act.
8 Section 2. Definitions.
9 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11 context clearly indicates otherwise:
12 "Declared state of emergency." An officially designated
13 state of emergency that has been declared by a Federal, State or
1 local government official having authority to declare that the
2 State, county, municipality or locality is in a state of
3 emergency. The term does not include a state of emergency which
4 results from a labor dispute in the health care industry.
5 "Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
6 "Employee." A nonsupervisory individual employed by a health
7 care facility who receives an hourly wage or is classified as a
8 nonsupervisory employee for collective bargaining purposes.
9 "Health care facility." A facility licensed by either the
10 Department of Health or the Department of Corrections.
11 "Nursing care." Care which falls within the scope of
12 practice set forth in the applicable nurse practice act or
13 otherwise encompasses recognized professional standards of
14 nursing practice.
15 "Off-duty." An individual that has no restrictions placed on
16 his or her whereabouts and is free of all restraint or duty on
17 behalf of the health care facility.
18 "On-duty." An individual that is required to be available
19 and ready to perform services on request within or on behalf of
20 the health care facility and includes any rest periods or breaks
21 during which the individual's ability to leave the health care
22 facility is restricted either expressly or by work-related
23 circumstances beyond the individual's control.
24 Section 3. Prohibition.
25 (a) Mandatory overtime.--
26 (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
27 contrary and subject only to the exceptions included in this
28 section, a health care facility may not mandate or otherwise
29 require, directly or indirectly, an employee to work or be in
30 on-duty status in excess of any one of the following:
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1 (i) the regularly scheduled work shift or duty
2 period;
3 (ii) twelve hours in a 24-hour period; or
4 (iii) eighty hours in 14 consecutive-day period.
5 (2) As used in this act, the term "mandatory" or
6 "mandate" means any request which if refused or declined by
7 the employee may result in discharge, discipline, loss of
8 promotion or other adverse employment consequence.
9 (3) Nothing in this subsection is intended to prohibit
10 an employee from voluntarily working overtime.
11 (b) Maximum hours.--
12 (1) No employee may work or be in on-duty status more
13 than 16 hours in any 24-hour period.
14 (2) Any employee working 16 hours in any 24-hour period
15 must have at least eight consecutive hours off duty before
16 being required to return to duty.
17 (3) No employee may be required to work or be on duty
18 more than seven consecutive days without at least one
19 consecutive 24-hour period off duty within that time.
20 Section 4. Exceptions.
21 (a) Declared state of emergency.--
22 (1) During a declared state of emergency in which a
23 health care facility is requested or otherwise reasonably may
24 be expected to provide an exceptional level of emergency or
25 other medical services to the community, the mandatory
26 overtime prohibition in section 3(a) shall be lifted to the
27 following extent:
28 (i) Employees may be required to work or be on duty
29 up to the maximum hour limitations set forth in section
30 3(b) provided the health care facility has taken the
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1 steps set forth in this section.
2 (ii) Prior to requiring any employee to work
3 mandatory overtime, the health care facility must make
4 reasonable efforts to fill its immediate staffing needs
5 through alternative efforts, including requesting off-
6 duty staff to voluntarily report to work, requesting on-
7 duty staff to volunteer for overtime hours and recruiting
8 per diem to report to work.
9 (iii) This exemption shall not exceed the duration
10 of the declared state of emergency or the health care
11 facility's direct role in responding to medical needs
12 resulting from the declared state of emergency, whichever
13 is less.
14 (2) During a declared state of emergency in which a
15 health care facility is requested to provide an exceptional
16 level of emergency or other medical services to the
17 community, the maximum hours limitation in section 3(b) shall
18 be lifted to the following extent:
19 (i) Employees may work or remain on duty for more
20 than the maximum hour limitations set forth in section
21 3(b) provided:
22 (A) The decision to work the additional time is
23 voluntarily made by the individual employee affected.
24 (B) The employee is given at least one
25 uninterrupted four-hour rest period before the
26 completion of the first 16 hours of duty and an
27 uninterrupted eight-hour rest period at the
28 completion of 24 hours of duty.
29 (C) No employee may work or remain on duty for
30 more than 24 consecutive hours in a 72-hour period.
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1 (D) An employee who has been on duty for more
2 than 16 hours in a 24-hour period who informs the
3 health care facility that he or she needs immediate
4 rest must be relieved from duty as soon thereafter as
5 possible consistent with patient safety needs and
6 given at least eight hours uninterrupted hours off
7 duty before being required to return for duty.
8 (ii) As used in this act, "rest period" means a
9 period in which an individual may be required to remain
10 on the premises of the health care facility but is free
11 of all restraint or duty or responsibility for work or
12 duty should the occasion arise.
13 (iii) This exemption shall not exceed the duration
14 of the declared state of emergency or the health care
15 facility's direct role in responding to medical needs
16 resulting from the declared state of emergency, whichever
17 is less.
18 (b) Penalty.--Any employer who violates or fails to comply
19 with any of the provisions of this act is liable to the employee
20 affected for an amount equal to eight times the employee's
21 regular hourly wage less any amount actually paid to the
22 employee by the employer.
23 Section 5. Effective date.
24 This act shall take effect in 120 days.
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