Cypress-area registered nurses filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center on Dec. 21, protesting the hospital's sick leave policy.
The nurses publicly accused hospital administrators of adopting a policy that encourages nurses to work while they are sick at a conference last Wednesday. The nurses are asking the hospital to suspend its sick-leave policy during flu season.
The hospital's official sick-leave policy prohibits nurses from taking off more than six sick days within a 12 month period. However, the hospital also allows nurses to take additional days without penalty, if they are able to find a replacement.
To reduce its employees chances of becoming sick, the hospital offers its employees opportunities to receive free flu shots and, according to reports, nurses are required to wear a mask over their nose and mouth at the hospital, if they have not received a flu shot.
"...We have never asked our nurses to report to work with an illness," said hospital spokesperson Nadia Saqr. "As professionals who work in the healthcare industry, we choose to lead by example and do all we can to protect our patients, colleagues, families and friends from preventable illnesses such as the flu."
The nurses at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center, who became the first Texas members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United in 2008, have been publicly protesting the policy since October, but have not received any concessions, resulting in the nurses filing the complaint.
So far, the NLRB has listed the case as pending and has not released any additional information.
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