Bill would give nurses premium pay for Saturdays

Nurses and other health care personnel at the Veterans Affairs Department would receive Saturday premium pay under a bill (S. 1188) introduced in the Senate last month. The proposed legislation, which aims to improve the recruitment and retention of VA nurses, provides Saturday premium pay for licensed practical nurses and other agency health care workers, including pharmacists and physical therapists. The VA employs more than 50,000 nursing personnel. "We must encourage higher enrollment in nursing schools, improve the work environment, and offer nurses opportunities to develop as respected professionals, while taking steps to ensure safe staffing levels in the short term," said Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee and the bill's sponsor. Currently, registered nurses receive additional pay for each hour of service they work during their regular work shifts on Saturdays and Sundays, but licensed practical nurses get premium pay only for regular work on Sunday. The extra pay is equal to 25 percent of the nurses' hourly rate of basic pay. Licensed practical nurses can get premium pay for work on Saturdays at the discretion of the director of the regional medical facility. S. 1188 would also allow nurses to use any unused sick leave in calculating their retirement annuities; require the VA to develop a policy on staffing standards and report on the use of overtime by nursing personnel; and make existing scholarship and debt reduction programs more flexible. "The bill is an important step in curbing mandatory overtime, establishing safe staffing levels and in shedding sunlight on the VA's nurse qualification standards. We are also pleased with the changes to retirement, which will help make the VA a more desirable place to work," said Linda Bennett, a lobbyist for the American Federation of Government Employees. In February, AFGE sent Rockefeller a letter asking for his support in correcting the inequities in Saturday premium pay for VA employees. Concerns over low pay and mandatory overtime have made it difficult for the VA to recruit and retain highly skilled registered nurses and other health professionals. Downsizing at the VA has also played a role in the current nursing shortage: From 1995 to 2000, the agency reduced its ranks of registered nurses by 10 percent, licensed practical nurses by 13 percent and nursing assistants by 30 percent. In January, a law guaranteeing VA nurses an annual pay raise under the national comparability system used for other federal employees took effect.