Two nurses brought forward complaints about mandatory overtime violations in early 2017 and during the subsequent Washington State Labor & Industries (L&I) investigation, 17 additional alleged violations were found. King County requested to go to mediation to resolve the issues, to which L&I agreed. WSNA agreed to partner with L&I to assist in creating the linked settlement agreement below. We held two mediation sessions and were able to reach an agreement. Allison Marshall attended one and Stuart Hanney attended both. L&I and WSNA are thankful for their invaluable assistance and for stepping forward. From now on, this will ensure:

• Systems are in place and are transparent to all nurses, supervisors and managers in JHS;
• Trainings will be regularly held for all; and,
• Policies and procedures about mandatory overtime have been updated, clarified and include The Law Restricting Mandatory Overtime for Nurses

Some highlights:

• Removal of disciplinary action and letter of expectation against one of the nurses.
• Because there was a chronic staffing shortage at the time the complaints were filed, the law did not allow for nurses to be mandated. Reasonable efforts to obtain staff prior to mandating nurses were not being followed per RCW 49.28.130.
• King County agreed to pay a fine of $10,000 and the full cost of mediation.

For more, please review the full Compliance Settlement Agreement. Since then, management has done much to mitigate short staffing; starting a residency program, standardizing precepting and orientation with a supervisor, tracking new hire orientations, posting LPN positions, additional FTEs through King County Council approval and is currently assessing Standard Work Processes. WSNA nurses are more involved than ever - participating in the KCCF and MRJC Nurse Scheduling Task Force meetings, the Nurse Labor-Management Committees at KCCF and MRJC, the Standard Work Process committees and more. An engaged union nurse work force can and will make a difference for all.