Virginia Mason and WSNA negotiated a tentative agreement for a Memorandum of Understanding to change the pay practice of “rounding” to "actual time keeping."  This means that Kronos will count your time worked minute-by-minute instead of rounding to the nearest 15-minute time-block.

 Ratification for this MOU will be held through electronic voting for all VM nurses in good standing. The voting will open at 7 pm on March 10 and close at 10 pm on March 11 . WSNA must have your valid personal email address for you to be able to participate in the vote (if you regularly receive WSNA emails and updates, your personal email address is on file).  Stay tuned for information about virtual sessions that will be held at various times on March 11 in case you have questions that arise.

FAQ about this MOU:

What does this mean? 

It means you will be paid based on the minute you clock in and out; you will need to clock in and out as near to the start and end of your shift as possible. There may be lines at the time clock, or you arrive at the clock a bit before or after so it is understood this may result in a few minutes over or under the actual start time.  You will be paid for each minute you work.

The hospital will be reviewing areas of congestion around timeclocks after implementation and working with WSNA to address this.

What happens if I am slightly over or under the start or end of my shift?

You will be paid for each minute you are clocked in until you are clocked out. There will not be any retaliation for these minor occurrences. If you are short by a few minutes (ie. 11 hours and 58 minutes for a 12 hr shift), you will not have to use PTO to cover your missing minutes. You cannot be disciplined or receive a decrease in benefits, etc. You should try to clock in as close to your start and end time as possible.

Will this affect my shift differential?

It should not since shift differentials are paid if a nurse works 2 or more hours on a designated shift; however, check your pay stubs to verify you are receiving your shift differential! (you should do this every pay period at all times.)  Management has agreed to meet with WSNA to discuss possible technical solutions if there are any issues. Please report these to WSNA and your manager if/when the time keeping is implemented.

What if I work in the OR or a procedure area and have to change into scrubs?  

For those working in procedure areas/OR and are required to change into hospital scrubs, you will be allowed to clock in 8 minutes before and 8 minutes after to change. As before, you are paid for time spent donning and doffing your scrubs.

What happens now? 

WSNA will be sending out information about electronic voting soon. We MUST have your valid email address if you would like to participate in the vote.  Please send your email address to sfrey@wsna.org or cdoll@wsna.org.

You can view the tentative agreement here .

Questions? Concerns?  Please contact your WSNA rep, Sara Frey sfrey@wsna.org or one of your local unit officers.