Scheduling & Pay

Scheduling Shifts

Depending on your availability and your unit, a variety of shifts are available. Weekday shifts will offer the most opportunities for consolidation of skills and connecting with the health care team. It is preferable that you do not work only night shifts.

During unit orientation it is your responsibility to find out how ESN shifts are booked on your unit. Your unit Manager, Clinical Nurse Educator, or delegate can help you with this. Note that your nursing program is a priority and school must not be missed or jeopardized. Please book your shifts after careful consideration of school commitments. 

Please note the following:

  • ESNs are not able to work any hours during statutory holidays. Do not schedule a shift on a statutory holiday, including a night shift that continues into a stat on the following day.
  • ESNs cannot receive overtime pay. You are not to work or claim overtime hours
  • All paid hours = ESN hours. After orientation, ESN hours should be used towards clinical time. Any paid hours will come from your bank of ESN hours. All paid hours will be at straight time, including orientation & classroom hours.  
  • Do not book ESN shifts during your preceptorship. We strongly discourage booking ESN shifts during your preceptorship. Consider your time commitment to ensure personal wellness and patient safety is maintained.
  • Extras ≠ pay. Extra workshops and/or LearningHub courses taken at your discretion will not be paid. 

ESN Hours

Regarding your total allotment of hours:

  • Fiscal year. Annual hours are assigned each fiscal year which runs from April 1st to March 31st.
  • Keep tabs of hours. You are to keep an accurate record of the hours you have used. You can do this by looking at your paid hours on your pay stub to determine how many hours you have worked.
  • Hours per shift. An 8 hour shift is equal to 7.5 paid hours and a 12 hour shift is equal to 11 paid hours.
  • 100 hour notification. When 100 ESN hours or fewer are remaining, an email is sent to you to ensure you do not go over the hours. Note there is a 2 week delay on these emails. Note that there may be up to a 2 week delay on these e-mails .
  • ESN completion date = grad marks date. The completion date of the ESN Program is the day your nursing school submits your graduating marks to your regulatory college (BCCNP). You are unable to work as an ESN past this date.

Getting Paid & Pay Statements

How do I get paid, and how do I read that confusing pay stub?

  • To ensure payment, sign-in every time you go to work on the unit sign-in/daily flowsheet. If your name is not on the unit sign-in flowsheet, print your name, Employee ID, start & end time, ESN designation & initial.
  • Your rate of pay can be found in your hire letter or in the Letter of Understanding that is on the BCNU website.
  • Need help?
  • Pay statements are only available electronically. To view your electronic pay statement, click here.
  • It is your responsibility to check your pay stub to ensure it is correct in relation to hours and net pay.
How to Read Your Paystub

Scheduling & Payment Quiz Time

Pay & Scheduling Case Study

Reflection Question

Open up your pdf copy of the “ESN Reflections” file. Take some time to answer Question 9:

9. Now that you know more about scheduling and pay, are there any more steps you should take to find out more about your ESN shifts on the unit? If so, what might those be?

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Role Expectation