Our hospital is rolling out a weekend program for step-down. Every Saturday and Sunday, two or three 12s, counts as full time with full benefits, and the base rate is about $9 an hour more than what I make now on regular rotation. You can't swap out of weekends, ever. That's the whole deal.
I'm single, no kids, and honestly I already work most weekends because I keep picking up. So on paper it's a no brainer. But I keep thinking about weddings and birthdays and my friends who all work M-F, and whether I'll be miserable in a year when every single weekend is gone for good.
Anyone actually done one of these weekend programs? Did you burn out on it or was the money worth it? And does anybody know if the weekend people get first dibs on PTO, or do they still get stuck behind the rotation people?
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Post replyLove how there's suddenly an extra $9 an hour for weekend people when the rest of us have been told for three years that there's no money for raises.
Get the terms in writing before you sign. Find out whether they can end the program and what happens to you if they do. Ours got cut after 18 months for budget reasons, and everyone went straight back to rotation at the old rate. Also ask HR directly how PTO approval works for weekend staff, because your manager's verbal promise won't mean much later.
When it's three 12s, where does the third shift fall? Friday night or Monday? That changes a lot about whether you get any real time off.
Picking up most weekends isn't the same as being locked into all of them. Right now you can say no when your best friend gets married. Under this deal you can't.
Did weekend option on a cardiac step-down for almost four years. The first year was great and I banked a lot of money. By year three I'd missed two weddings and a funeral, and I realized my friends had stopped inviting me to things. On PTO, we were technically equal with rotation staff, but approval depended on whether they could find coverage for a weekend slot, which they usually couldn't. So in practice I got stuck.