NLRB, Region 29 finds that Doctors are covered under the National Labor Relations Act.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the “Committee of Interns and Residents” - Local 1957, sought a representation election for the 140 house staff and resident doctors employed at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York.  Director Paulsen of Region 29 agreed with SEIU and their argument that the resident doctors were employees within the meaning of the NLRA based on the Board decision in Boston Medical Center, 330 NLRB 152 (1999).  In that decision, the Board found that residents are employees based on the fact that they received compensation in the form of a stipend, workers’ compensation, paid vacations, sick leave, and health, dental and life insurance.

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which operates the doctor residency program at Elmhurst Hospital, argued that teaching and research assistants were not employees, but more “akin” to graduate students and described the residency programs as a “continuum” of medical education “until they are ready to practice independently as licensed physicians.” The Ichan School based their argument on a Board decision in Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004).

Director Paulsen sided with SEIU indicating that resident doctors spend a majority of their time providing patient care without supervision and that resident doctors are not registered at the Icahn School as “students.”  Based on these findings, NLRB Region 29 Director Paulsen ordered a representation election for house staff and resident doctors employed at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York.

The Decision may be found here…

NLRB 29-RC-112517 Case information may be found here…

An interesting post from the GMCS blog on January 13, 2014 regarding graduate school student/employee representation cases can be found here…