As the country continues to grapple with the opioid epidemic, nurses are beginning to feel more pressure to maintain a high level of productivity.
Here are five reasons why they should expect their pay to be higher in the coming year.
1.
They’re getting more flexible 1.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide at least one paid sick leave.
The law applies to most private businesses and also to public institutions like hospitals and universities.
This means that workers who aren’t paid sick days must work less than the federal minimum wage for full-time employees and the federal overtime pay for part-time workers.
If you’re a nurse or midwife and you work 25 to 29 hours per week, you’d be eligible for one paid paid sick day.
2.
They get paid overtime for extra work If you’ve been working more than 30 hours per day, you can also claim up to four hours of overtime pay per week.
These extra hours are called “extra paid hours” and are taxed at a 25% rate on the first $150,000 of income earned.
3.
They can get paid a percentage of their gross salary The federal government pays an hourly wage that can vary depending on your job and your salary.
The minimum wage is $7.25 per hour for all employees, plus an additional $2.13 for overtime.
If your pay is $15,000 or more, you get an additional pay rate of at least 20% of your gross income.
4.
They earn extra pay for the extra hours You might not think about it, but you’re getting extra pay if you work overtime.
In most states, you’re required to report overtime to the federal government, but in some states, including New York, you may have to report your hours of work on your tax returns.
5.
The pay isn’t as low as it used to be Because of the ACA, the federal Department of Labor is gradually raising the federal pay threshold for nursing positions to $13.25.
In addition, states have been increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for full time workers, and $7 an hour.
While some employers are still paying less, you’ll be getting paid more.
4% of gross salary is $4,750 You may be surprised to learn that your salary is not the highest of your peers.
While the federal federal minimum hourly wage for nursing is $10 per hour, the state minimum wage in your state is $6.25 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The difference is a bit less than 1% of income.
That means that if you earned $12,000 a year, your salary would be $10,200.
However, because you are a nurse, you will earn an additional 10% of the gross salary.
For instance, if you earn $15 an hour and work 25 hours per month, your total salary would amount to $18,800.
5% of $6,250 or more is the highest The federal minimum is $12.50 an hour; New York is the only state that does not pay its employees a living wage.
If a state raises the minimum to $15 per hour or $20 for part time workers and $12 for fulltime employees, you would be paying an additional 12.5% of a person’s gross income for every $5,000 earned.
However the difference between the minimum and the living wage is only 3% of what you make.
For example, if a worker earns $14 an hour in New York and earns $16 an hour working for a full-service restaurant, they would each make $20.
That works out to a $10 hourly wage.
In contrast, if the same worker earns the same amount in Washington, D.C., but makes $16 per hour at a full restaurant, that worker would make $21 per hour.
This is why it’s important to understand that you’re paying more if you’re earning more than $18 an hour when you report to work, but less if you make more than that.
The federal federal pay rate is $9.50 for all workers and increases annually based on the inflation rate.
You’ll get an annual salary that’s higher than the state pay rate if you have more than five years of experience and your employer has been in compliance with the federal requirements for two years.
4 years of training means more work For the most part, nurses get their training from state-certified facilities.
However some private nursing schools, including those in Florida and Louisiana, are accredited and offer more advanced training.
4 months of training = 4 weeks of paid sick time The Affordable Medicare for All Act, or Obamacare, includes a provision called “pay for experience” in its Affordable Care Bill of Rights.
This provision means that you will receive the equivalent of two paid sick leaves each year, for a total