HB 5471 Summary

• Prohibits health care facilities from requiring health care employees to work beyond their agreed-upon, predetermined, and regularly scheduled daily shifts, with limited exceptions.

• Allows mandatory overtime only in unforeseen emergencies as a last resort after reasonable efforts to find other staff, with employees given up to 2 hours to arrange dependent care if needed.

• Permits voluntary overtime acceptance, allows on-call employees to work additional hours, and allows continuation of patient-care procedures extending past shift end if employee absence could harm the patient.

• Requires health care facilities to provide employees who work more than 12 consecutive hours with at least 10 consecutive hours of off-duty time unless the employee voluntarily waives it.

• Prohibits disciplinary action or discrimination against employees who refuse overtime work assignments that exceed their scheduled shifts; defines "health care employee" to include direct patient care providers and clinical staff but excludes physicians, dentists, and support services workers.

• Takes effect only if HB 5472 is also enacted into law.