Low Census. Low census is defined as a decline in patient care requirements resulting in a temporary staff decrease. During temporary periods of low census, the Employer will
1. Send home Agency nurses.
2. Cancel Overtime shifts.
3. Cancel incentive shifts.
4. Ask for volunteers.
5. Cancel reserve nurses.
6. Cancel part-time nurses working above their assigned FTE.
Low Census. Nurses who report for work as scheduled and who must leave because of low census shall be paid a minimum of four (4) hours report pay at the straight-time rate. The Employer shall continue its efforts to provide at least two (2) hours prior notice of low census day off. Low census call will be voluntary whenever feasible. Procedures for insuring effective contact and communication between nurses and the hospital shall be referred to the Conference Committee. Where skill, ability, experience, competence or qualifications are not overriding factors as determined by the Employer on the basis of relevant criteria, low census days will be rotated equitably among all nurses, registry nurses first, then volunteers, then nurses receiving time and one-half or double time overtime/premium except those nurses working a scheduled shift, per diem staff and part time staff working an extra shift. Nurses may also be offered the option or may be assigned to float to areas where they are needed, qualified and recently oriented on the basis of the nurse having completed a written technical skills checklist for the area, or to be oriented to a new area, or to take an indirect patient care assignment. Floating is primarily intended to be used to address fluctuations in census and employee absences. No nurse shall be required to float more than twice per shift. Regular full-time and part-time nurses will be given priority over casual and/or per diem nurses for filling regularly scheduled staffing needs provided the full-time or part-time nurse is available and skill, ability, experience, competence or qualification are not overriding factors as determined by the Employer on the basis of relevant criteria. Mandatory low census will be limited to no more than forty-eight (48) hours per nurse per six (6) month period. Generally low census is house wide, meaning there is only one 48 hour cap. Except that there shall be no such limit for nurses in a unit that has been mutually agreed by WSNA and SRH to be identified as a “closed” unit. Low Census hours will be tracked by the Employer but nurses who believe they have reached their cap and do not want to be low censused must notify the individual advising them of the low census assignment at the time the need for low census is being identified. The nurse may request of their manager or nursing office staff to determine accumulated low census hours and the nurse’s place in rotation in relation to other core staff on his/her unit.
Low Census. An employee that is on stand-by that is called back can be released and put back on stand-by due to low census prior to seeking volunteers. The reason is that an employee called back is not on a regular scheduled shift.
Low Census. When patient census and acuity create a need to reduce nurse 11 staffing after the schedule has been posted, individual nurses will be subject to low census 12 pursuant to the following procedures. In the application of the factors described below relating 13 to low census decisions, the primary considerations shall be the maintenance, at all times, of 14 safe patient care, continuity of care by the nurse currently assigned to such activities, and the 15 maintenance of adequate nursing staff to serve Hospital patients. The appropriate mix of skill 16 sets, certifications required to care for the immediate patient census and continuity of nursing 17 care will be evaluated and determined by Hospital supervisors/manager/charge nurse.
Low Census. Nothing in this Article shall limit the Employer’s right to call off employees or send them home before the end of their shift. In the event of a temporary decrease in occupancy and/or the level of care required by residents in the facility to the extent that there is insufficient work to require the normal staffing, the Operator shall have the option to assign low census days to Employees. Low census days shall be assigned pursuant to the following procedure:
1. Temporary employees
2. Per Diem employees
3. Regular Employees who are working on overtime or who will work into overtime during the shift
4. Volunteers who are working or scheduled to work If the low census days are not covered by the above procedure, subject to patient care requirements, the Operator will assign low census days as follows: Low census days will be assigned in the reverse order of seniority according to the classification affected. Assignments of low census shall be rotated among the staff in the affected classifications so that no employee in a classification shall be required to take a second low census day until all employees in the classification shall have taken a low census day. After all employees in a classification have taken a low census day then the rotation will begin again with the least senior employee. Low census days will be shift specific. Nothing herein shall limit the number of low census days an Employee may accept as a volunteer. Low census days shall be without compensation unless the individual elects to use vacation time. Reduction in Hours shall not be considered a Layoff as defined in this Agreement. Any inadvertent violation of this Article shall not result in any economic compensation for any employee. The Employer shall have sole absolute discretion in determining what job classifications shall be reduced in hours.
Low Census. Low census is defined as a decline in patient care requirements or workload in a particular department or unit resulting in a temporary staff decrease. Prior to implementing the low census procedure within a job classification, the Employer will float the surplus staff to other areas of the Hospital if the Employer determines the need exists. During temporary periods of low census after canceling any overtime hours on the department or unit affected, the Employer will ask for volunteers within the job classification to take time off before determining and implementing the reduced staffing schedule required. In the event there are no volunteers, the Employer will endeavor to rotate low census equitably among all employees on the shift starting with the least senior employee first, providing skills, competence, ability and availability are considered equal as determined by the Employer.
6.6.1 During temporary periods of low census, employees within a job classification on a unit and shift will be released from work in the following order:
(a) Send home agency workers;
(b) Cancel overtime shifts;
(c) Ask for volunteers;
(d) Cancel reserve staff;
(e) Cancel part-time employees working above their assigned FTE;
(f) Rotate regular full-time and part-time employees by seniority within the Low Census grouping starting with the least senior employee first, providing skills, competence and ability are not overriding factors.
Low Census. Low census shall be defined as a decline in client care requirements resulting in a temporary staff decrease. Reduction of hours due to low census does not have any notice requirements. After the schedule is posted, in the event the Employer reduces the workforce in a job classification on a given shift due to low census, scheduled hours will be reduced in the following order: First Cut: Agency Personnel Next Cut: Employees working in an overtime pay condition Next Cut: Employees working a scheduled extra pickup shift which will result in overtime during the pay period Next Cut: Employees that volunteer to take a low census day Next Cut: Employees working a scheduled extra pickup shift which will not result in overtime during the pay period Next Cut: Non-voluntary rotational cut of full-time and part-time employees in a job classification on the affected shift by using the seniority list in that job classification. The list will be created with the employee who was hired last being the first to take a low census day when the facility is overstaffed. Such employee’s name will then be removed from the seniority list. If the next day the facility is overstaffed, the employee who was hired second to the last will be asked to take a low census day off, etc. until each employee has taken their turn. After every employee has taken their turn, the list will start over again. For employees that have volunteered to take a day off or for employees that have agreed to work an alternate day or shift prior to their name being called on the seniority list, that employee’s name will be crossed off from the list, and when his/her turn comes up, staffing will skip their name and proceed to the next employee. Employees subject to low census may elect to utilize earned PTO benefits which are otherwise available for scheduling. Quarterly, on November 1, February 1, May 1, and August 1, the cycle of applying cut hours will start over.
Low Census. A. In the event of nurses not working all or part of one of their scheduled working days at the request of the Medical Center, the following order for assigning time off shall be used, provided the nurse remaining on the unit is qualified to perform the assignment:
1. Agency or traveler nurses, followed by Sharecare nurses, will be assigned time off.
2. Regular nurses eligible for any time-and-one-half (1 ½ ) or greater premium (for example, overtime and/or incentive pay) for working on the shift of the patient care unit and/or cluster (for those units in a cluster) affected will be assigned such time off using a system of rotation.
3. Regular nurses working an extra shift on the shift of the patient care unit and/or cluster (for those units in a cluster) affected will be assigned such time off using a system of rotation.
4. Volunteers to take the time off (both regular and intermittently employedper diem nurses) shall be sought in the shift of the patient care unit, then the cluster (for those units in a cluster) affected, and then all medical surgical units together (for medical surgical units only). For purposes of the preceding sentence, a “same shift and unit and/or cluster (for those units in a cluster)” exists where both the volunteer and the intermittently employedper diem nurse on a shift of the same patient care unit and/or cluster (for those units in a cluster) have the same starting and ending times for that shift.
(a) Lists of requested voluntary Low Census will be maintained in the patient care unit and/or staffing office (for those units using the staffing office);
(b) Volunteers will have the option of indicating preference for taking the full shift off, partial shift, or being placed on standby, as follows:
i. The nurse must designate his or her preference related to Standby at the time the nurse places his or her name on the list.
ii. Such preference will be considered by the Medical Center in determining which nurse will be given the Low Census, based on the determination as to the standby needs for the unit then the cluster (for those units in a cluster) (e.g., with or without standby). Where multiple requests are received for the same status of voluntary low census (e.g., with or without standby), the earliest request(s) will be given preference and the order will be viewable by nurses on-line from a nurse’s home, provided that a nurse on the same unit or cluster is qualified to perform the work of the nurse given the time off.
a. The ...
Low Census. The Hospital and the Association agree that it is important to enhance stability related to projected work hours and expectations for Registered Nurses in relationship to high quality patient care and prudent fiscal responsibility. The Hospital remains committed, as a matter of principle, to seeking to preserve a nurse’s assigned FTE status (profile hours), as patient census fluctuates from planned levels. To this end, the following limits and conditions on low census shall apply:
a. Monthly maximum – Twelve (12) hours
b. Calendar year annual maximum – One hundred twenty (120) hours
c. Voluntary low census will count to the mandatory caps. A nurse with an assigned FTE level of less than 1.0 FTE will have the maximum limits adjusted accordingly on a pro rata basis [e.g., 0.5 FTE has monthly maximum of six (6) hours and annual maximum of sixty (60) hours]. A nurse may use accrued annual leave for mandatory low census hours. After forty (40) mandatory hours have been reached in a six (6) month period (January-June and July- December), the nurse may elect to use accrued sick leave for any additional mandatory low census hours. Newly hired nurses will be subject to low census rotation after completion of their initial orientation. Seniority, annual leave, and sick leave benefits shall accrue for low census days taken. Nurses may elect to use any accrued annual leave for low census days. A nurse placed on low census shall not also be required to be on standby.
9.17.1 The Hospital will implement low census days in the following order:
1. Agency/traveling nurses;
2. Volunteers among nurses currently in overtime will be sought;
3. Volunteers throughout the entire Hospital;
4. Regular part-time and full-time nurses both working above their assigned full- time equivalent (“FTE”) status (“profiled hours”) and working in an overtime status;
5. Supplemental nurses;
6. Regular part-time and full-time nurses based on seniority and rotated equitably. The rotation will be based on hours previously low-censused.
Low Census. In the event of low census days/hours, nurses shall be 25 placed on low census in the unit and shift where the low census occurs in the following
