Connecticut hospitals were targeted by the legislature recently with a last-minute addition to the budget bill passed in June. Significant changes made by this provision to current law about mandatory overtime for registered nurses will relieve unions and RNs from complying with longstanding contracts about scheduling and overtime. The legislation was embedded in Public Act 23-204, which is the nearly 900-page budget implementer bill that was signed by the governor on June 12, 2023. The changes take effect October 1, 2023.

Connecticut General Statute 19a-490l currently limits mandatory overtime but allows hospitals to require nurses to work overtime or additional shifts in five circumstances:

• When nurses are participating in a surgical procedure, until it is completed;
• When nurses are working in critical care units, until they are relieved by another nurse starting a scheduled work shift;
• During public health emergencies;
• During institutional emergencies, such as adverse weather conditions or widespread illness, that the hospital administrator determines will significantly reduce the number of nurses available to work; and
• When nurses are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that addresses mandatory overtime.

Based on the last bullet point, a number of Connecticut hospitals have collective bargaining agreements with RN unions that authorize mandatory overtime either when the hospital determines it is necessary for patient care or under other circumstances specifically defined in the contract.