H. B. 2521


(By Delegates Amores and Thompson)
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor then Finance.]




A BILL to amend article five-c, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty, relating to nurse aides employed by nursing and personal care homes and residential board and care homes; providing for earning compensatory time off in exchange for reporting to work as an incentive for good attendance; and specifying the rate of compensatory time earned.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five-c, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5C. NURSING AND PERSONAL CARE HOMES AND RESIDENTIAL BOARD AND CARE HOMES.
§16-5C-20. Compensatory time for nurse aides who report to work regularly as scheduled by their employers.

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is in the public interest for nursing facilities in this state to maintain adequate numbers of competent staff at all times to ensure that patients receive necessary and proper care and services and, in consequence thereof, enacts this section with the purpose of providing an incentive for nurse aides employed by nursing and personal care homes and residential board and care homes in this state to regularly report to work as scheduled by their employers.
(b) On and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, each facility that is required to be licensed pursuant to section six of this article shall establish a program whereby all nurse aides employed by them may earn compensatory time off as an incentive for reporting to work as scheduled by their employer, according to the following: For every thirty days that a nurse aide is scheduled to work, reports to work on time and completes his or her scheduled shift, he or she shall be credited with one day of compensatory time off, in addition to all other sick or vacation leave otherwise earned.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide an incentive for nurse aides to report to work as scheduled so that their employers may maintain an adequate staff of competent personnel for the provision of patient care and services.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.