Several co-opting companies posing as partner units of Leapfrog Health Holdings Ltd and its subsidiary ADRIMS have sent letters to hospitals that require employees to work at least 18 hours on a full-time basis, while ERNuno Healthcare, Inc. is requiring that its employees work for a minimum of 8 hours.
In mid-September, after sick day, ERNuno Healthcare fired most of its employees for exercising a second overtime period, citing impending the threat of a strike. Among ERNuno employees working for a two-day break, 42 were struck due to the company’s breach of contract.
The company says it is unable to hire additional staff due to a lack of persons with the necessary number of calendar days of work. Contract violations run both ways. Another letter sent by ERNuno Healthcare to physicians cites ERNuno employees who have been fired for taking days off while working — and who don’t own their own facilities for being on a contract.
ERNuno denies engaging in disruptive practices such as going on rotating shifts over lengthy work weeks, working over shorter periods of time because they can get sick, not having sufficient numbers of people in any one of its facilities, and/or making any prejudicial remarks about a worker.
“We are undergoing a labor dispute. Our employees are continuing to work for the ERNuno Health chain. The ERNuno Health management representative is in constant communication with ERNuno Care management to arrange a solution in the hospital environment,” ERNuno medical director, Samantha Ostrow, told Reuters.
“We sustained the blow, we will be paying,” she said, adding that she did not know if ERNuno’s watch-dogs would disapprove the allegations of defrauding them, but all ERNuno employees are still on full wages and on permanent contracts.
Eric Neylon, PR executive at ERNuno Data & Solutions, Inc, said his employees would continue working until arbitration.
“It didn’t happen because of the fault of ERNuno. ERNuno’s management brought the problem up and they didn’t want ERNuno to listen to demands for improvement.”
Renegade Healthcare, a Miami-based company that owns ERNuno, said it’s looking to curb breaks for ERNuno workers amid the strike action.
“Renegade is not in a position to exert management efforts on ERNuno employees,” a spokesman for the company said.
“We do have a report that ERNuno Healthcare is looking to increase the number of ERNuno employees working out of a meeting by 5% (…) including no longer requiring that ERNuno Healthcare provide the electronic healthcard required for full-time employees to work on shift.”
Renegade declined to comment.
U.S. employers tend not to make demands beyond what the employee’s agency asks, which is more than the 49-hour work week, and has led to termination of most ERNunos altogether.
However, swindling hospitals have reached a tipping point with thousands of crisis ERNO employees forcing their teams to work without pay, and wages at record levels. Unions are demanding that ERNs be paid before they work shifts.
“While ERNs are expected to work more hours during a workweek, without full fair scheduled overtime hours, they are unable to complete consistent hours at work and are susceptible to useudation,” said Jeffrey Hultgren, the executive director of One of the Fewer ERNOs Where ERNs Do Work.
“We need payroll protections in ERNs to ensure that ERNs are able to work overtime.”