STAND. COM. REP. NO. 392

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 58

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 58 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MANDATORY OVERTIME FOR NURSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit public and private hospitals from requiring nurses to work overtime, except in the case of a publicly declared state of emergency.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Hawaii Nurses' Association, and four individuals.

Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Department of Health, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi, the Queen's Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, and the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that nurses perform a very vital function in the provision of quality health care to patients. Nurses are highly dedicated individuals who work lengthy shifts, often volunteer for additional shifts, and at all times exhibit a high level of skill and professionalism. Your Committee further finds that due to the demanding nature of the job and the long shifts involved, nurses should not be required to work overtime to cover routine personnel shortages. The practice compromises both the level of patient care provided and a nurse's ability to adequately perform the nurse's duties. Hospitals should instead practice alternative means of covering routine personnel shortages rather than automatically resorting to forcing nurses to work overtime and placing nurses in danger of losing their jobs or facing other adverse action resulting from patient abandonment.

However, your Committee believes that certain circumstances necessitate the use of mandatory overtime, including when a state of emergency exists within a particular health care facility. Your Committee determines that should circumstances arise, such as a power failure, or a natural disaster or traffic accident that may prevent nurses from attending work, the health care facility should be permitted to declare a state of emergency and require mandatory overtime for the duration of the emergency.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Including language in the purpose section to allow for mandatory overtime when a state of emergency is declared within a health care facility;

(2) Including language to authorize the use of mandatory overtime when the appropriate authority has declared a state of emergency within a health care facility; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 58, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 58, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Health.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,

____________________________

BRIAN KANNO, Chair