SF 2463

1st Engrossment - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to employment; providing limits on overtime 
  1.3             for nurses; providing remedies; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 2000, section 181.171, subdivision 1; 
  1.5             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.6             chapter 181. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 181.171, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [CIVIL ACTION; DAMAGES.] A person may bring 
  1.11  a civil action seeking redress for violations of sections 
  1.12  181.02, 181.03, 181.031, 181.032, 181.08, 181.09, 181.10, 
  1.13  181.101, 181.11, 181.12, 181.13, 181.14, 181.145, and 181.15, 
  1.14  and 181.275 directly to district court.  An employer who is 
  1.15  found to have violated the above sections is liable to the 
  1.16  aggrieved party for the civil penalties or damages provided for 
  1.17  in the section violated.  An employer who is found to have 
  1.18  violated the above sections shall also be liable for 
  1.19  compensatory damages and other appropriate relief including but 
  1.20  not limited to injunctive relief. 
  1.21     Sec. 2.  [181.275] [REGULATING NURSES' OVERTIME.] 
  1.22     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this 
  1.23  section, the following terms have the meanings given them: 
  1.24     (1) "emergency" means a period when replacement staff are 
  1.25  not able to report for duty for the next shift because of 
  1.26  unusual circumstances such as an act of terrorism, a disease 
  2.1   outbreak, adverse weather conditions, natural disasters, or, in 
  2.2   the case of nurse supervisors, a strike; 
  2.3      (2) "normal work period" means 12 or fewer consecutive 
  2.4   hours consistent with a predetermined work shift; 
  2.5      (3) "nurse" has the meaning given in section 148.171, 
  2.6   subdivision 9; and 
  2.7      (4) "taking action against" means discharging; 
  2.8   disciplining; threatening; reporting to the board of nursing; 
  2.9   discriminating against; or penalizing regarding compensation, 
  2.10  terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment. 
  2.11     Subd. 2.  [PROHIBITED ACTIONS.] Except as provided in 
  2.12  subdivision 3, a hospital or other entity licensed under 
  2.13  sections 144.50 to 144.58, and its agent; or another health care 
  2.14  facility licensed by the commissioner of health, and the 
  2.15  facility's agent, is prohibited from taking action against a 
  2.16  nurse solely on the grounds that the nurse fails to accept an 
  2.17  assignment of additional consecutive hours at the facility in 
  2.18  excess of a normal work period, if the nurse declines to work 
  2.19  additional hours because doing so may, in the nurse's judgment, 
  2.20  jeopardize patient safety.  This subdivision does not apply to a 
  2.21  nursing facility, an intermediate care facility for persons with 
  2.22  mental retardation, a licensed boarding care facility, or a 
  2.23  housing with services facility. 
  2.24     Subd. 3.  [EMERGENCY.] Notwithstanding subdivision 2, a 
  2.25  nurse may be scheduled for duty or required to continue on duty 
  2.26  for more than one normal work period in an emergency. 
  2.27     Subd. 4.  [NOTIFICATION.] Each health care facility subject 
  2.28  to subdivision 2 shall post on each nursing unit in an area to 
  2.29  which all employees have access the following statement:  "This 
  2.30  facility is prohibited by law from taking any action against a 
  2.31  nurse who fails to accept a request or order to work additional 
  2.32  hours at the facility in excess of the normal work period if, in 
  2.33  the nurse's judgment, working the additional hours may 
  2.34  jeopardize patient safety."  The facility shall also post 
  2.35  adjacent to the statement the telephone number of the Minnesota 
  2.36  department of labor and industry, labor standards unit. 
  3.1      Subd. 5.  [EXCEPTION.] Section 645.241 does not apply to 
  3.2   violations of this section.