Statement by Gale Healthcare | April 2023
Former Senator Tom Daschle is one of the country’s leading voices on healthcare policy. Recently, he shared his views on one of the latest issues impacting healthcare – misclassification of healthcare workers. He highlights the rise of platform companies that offer an efficient way to meet staffing needs, but points out that some platform companies are treating their nursing staff as 10999 independent contractors to avoid employee-related costs.
Temporary nurses are not like Uber drivers. They are not working “independently” in nursing homes and other healthcare communities. Rather they work under the direction and control of the healthcare community where they provide care.
The Senator summed it up well, saying “Simply put, the nature of the temporary nursing industry fundamentally warrants a level of oversight that is not required throughout much of the gig economy… For a regulated industry, such as healthcare, the level of control and oversight necessary for temporary nursing staff in nursing homes is indicative of a traditional employee-employer relationship and not a 1099 worker.”
We couldn’t agree more, and that’s why Gale offers all of our nurses W2 employment. It provides important protections for our healthcare partners, nurses and patients.
Relying on 1099 nursing staff can put your community at significant legal and financial risk. Again, quoting the Senator, “We have a duty to ensure that our attempts to solve our workforce crisis do not have the unintended consequence of creating more harm than good.”
You can read more about “the high stakes of healthcare worker misclassification” here.
