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S 1362

Relates to methods used to capture or dispose of nuisance wildlife

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jose Serrano

Prohibits mandatory overtime for health care staff at covered MA acute-care facilities, except in narrowly defined patient-safety emergencies, with caps on shifts and required volu

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Bill Summary · S 1362

Bill Summary — S 1362 (Introduced in Senate, Massachusetts)

Note: the provided packet contains mixed metadata (titles, sponsors, and committee referrals from different jurisdictions). The legislative text included below is a Massachusetts Senate bill titled “An Act to prohibit mandatory overtime.” This summary reflects that text.

Purpose

To prohibit routine mandatory overtime for members of the health care workforce at specified acute-care facilities in Massachusetts, limiting involuntary extended shifts to narrowly defined emergency situations in order to protect patient safety and worker health.

Key provisions

  • Definitions
    • “Facility” — licensed general acute care hospitals, the UMass teaching hospital, acute psychiatric/specialty hospitals, acute care units in state facilities, and a specified medium-security private-operated correctional facility in Plymouth County. Excludes rehab facilities, skilled nursing/long-term care, and other correctional facilities.
    • “Health Care Workforce” — personnel employed or contracted who affect patient care quality (e.g., RNs, LPNs, unlicensed assistive personnel, service/maintenance/clerical/technical/professional workers). Excludes doctors, interns, residents, facility management, and correctional security staff not providing health services.
    • “Mandatory Overtime” — hours worked beyond a predetermined regularly scheduled shift; that regularly scheduled shift cannot exceed 12 hours in any 24-hour period.
  • Prohibition and exceptions
    • Facilities may not require mandatory overtime except when a patient-safety emergency requires it and there is no reasonable alternative.
    • Before imposing mandatory overtime in such emergencies, facilities must make a good-faith effort to obtain voluntary coverage. Mandatory overtime may not be used as a regular staffing practice.
  • Hours limits and rest
    • No member of the health care workforce may work more than 16 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period.
    • If 16 consecutive hours are worked, the worker must receive at least 8 consecutive hours off immediately afterward.
  • Oversight, reporting and guidance
    • The Health Policy Commission (under chapter 6D) shall develop guidelines/procedures defining what constitutes an emergency that permits mandatory overtime, with stakeholder consultation and a public hearing.
    • Facilities must report all instances of mandatory overtime and the circumstances to the Department of Public Health; the contracting company for the named correctional facility must report to the Department of Corrections. Those reports will be public documents.
  • Worker protections
    • The statute is remedial, does not waive other legal or collective bargaining rights, and refusal to work beyond the limits cannot be grounds for adverse employment action.

Who is affected

  • Most immediate: nurses, nursing assistants, technicians, and other direct/indirect patient-care staff at covered acute-care facilities in Massachusetts.
  • Employers: hospitals and the specified state-contracted correctional health operations; health system staffing managers.
  • Oversight agencies: Health Policy Commission, Department of Public Health, Department of Corrections.

Potential impacts

  • Patient safety and staff well-being: reduced fatigue-related errors and improved recovery time for staff.
  • Operational/staffing: hospitals may need more permanent or flexible staffing, contingency staffing pools, or greater use of per diem/agency staff; potential cost increases.
  • Labor relations: interacts with collective bargaining agreements; preserves existing rights and prohibits retaliation.
  • Transparency: mandatory overtime occurrences become public via reporting.

Procedural status (from provided record)

  • Introduced in Senate (filed 1/17/2025); read twice and referred to committee. Referred to the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development (2/27/2025). Hearings were scheduled for October 8, 2025. (Some provided metadata lists other referrals/committees; those appear inconsistent with the bill text.)

If you want, I can:
- Produce a one-page fact sheet for hospital administrators or for unions.
- Compare this bill to prior-session related bills (A 10786, S 5973, etc.) to highlight changes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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