It’s rare that a Supreme Court decision directly affects the quality of your workplace, but a recent one is going to affect yours, big time.
Look at your employment contract.
If, like most of your peers, there’s an arbitration clause that prevents you from joining a class action lawsuit over wages, that contract is now legal to enforce. And whatever the legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court decision, it’s clear that you’ve lost a key protection that keeps employers from messing with your pay.
Just watch. If history is any judge, you’re going to see employers pushing the envelope.
They’ll argue if clinicians can’t band together to sue about wages, they won’t be able to sue about working conditions, patient care or anything else.
It doesn’t matter if your employer is in it to make money or says they’re not-for-profit, every executive gets where they are by improving the bottom line. So, look for your employer to push the envelope of how much they can get out of you. When you see it happening, consider joining your union to protect your interests. If that’s not an option, then consider changing your practice.
Your situation is not going to get any better and your mental health could get a lot worse.