Flexible Staffing (Cut Hours). The Employer shall apply a system of flexible staffing to accommodate fluctuating patient census and staffing requirements. Nurses shall either be cut or placed on standby for the entire shift unless the affected nurses and the manager mutually agree otherwise. The nurse may opt to use earned PTO accruals to offset cut hours; if so, hours are to be entered under “PTO cut” utilizing the time clock. When scheduled staff exceeds patient care needs, the Employer would intend to reduce its staff in the following cut order: First Cut - Agency Next Cut - Nurses working in an overtime condition (excluding nurses receiving rest between shift premium pay) Next Cut - Requested cut (volunteers) Next Cut - Per Diem Next Cut - Supplemental Part-time Next Cut - Part-time working above their FTE Next Cut - Mandatory cut equitably rotated to include full-time, part-time and temporary employees (Note: This rotation may be temporarily adjusted so as not to disrupt the continuity of preceptor assignments where a recognized learning experience is identified on the unit.)
Flexible Staffing (Cut Hours). The Employer shall apply a system of flexible staffing to accommodate fluctuating patient census and staffing requirements. Nurses shall either be cut or placed on standby for the entire shift unless the affected nurses and the manager mutually agree otherwise. The nurse may opt to use earned PTO accruals to offset cut hours; if so, hours are to be entered under “PTO cut” utilizing the time clock. When scheduled staff exceeds patient care needs, the Employer would intend to reduce its staff in the following cut order: First Cut - Agency Next Cut - Nurses working in an overtime condition (excluding nurses receiving rest between shift premium pay) Next Cut - Requested cut (volunteers) Next Cut - Per Diem Next Cut - Supplemental Part-time Next Cut - Part-time working above their FTE Next Cut - Mandatory cut equitably rotated to include full-time, part-time and temporary employees (Note: This rotation may be temporarily adjusted so as not to disrupt the continuity of preceptor assignments where a recognized learning experience is identified on the unit.) The process of "equitable rotation" for mandatory cut hours shall be as follows: Beginning on April 1 and October 1, mandatory cuts will initially be assigned by seniority, least senior first, until all nurses have taken a cut. Credit for a cut is received when any duration of reduced time is voluntarily taken or mandatorily assigned, except if it is less than one hour, in which event it will not count as a cut, nor will the time be counted toward that nurse's cut hours. If all nurses subject to a mandatory cut have taken at least one cut in the semi-annual period, then the nurse with the least cut hours in that semi-annual period will take the cut. (Cuts for hours beyond an employee's FTE will not be credited toward cut hours.) Travelers will be regarded as temporary employees for purposes of this section. Subject to management approval, the majority of nurses in a particular unit or clinical group may modify the process of "equitable rotation" from that stated above, provided, however, that the process is defined in writing with a copy given to the Local Unit Chair upon request. Cut hours will be applied by clinical group providing skill, competency, and ability are not considered to be overriding factors in the opinion of the Employer. When making staffing decisions prior to the beginning of the shift, all nurses within a clinical group will be considered as one staff for the purpose of cut hours. Nurses ex...
