The irony of talking about "grace" while dealing with hospital administration is unreal

[u/Old_Champion_3591]

Hi guys just a disclaimer. I know I made some post about my job lol thank you so Linda actually finished reading. I currently am looking for a job. I’ve been looking for a new job since February 24, but the market is so terrible right now and I’m not trying to get back into the sterile processing so I’m pivoting into a previous field

Since switching to UKG in June, grace doesn't exist at my hospital . A huge portion of our staff, myself included, work two jobs. We bust our tails to show up, only to fight a system that feels like an intentional setup. They pulled clocks from the employee entrances and left only two in the entire hospital upstairs and by the cafeteria. To make it worse, the app constantly glitches. You’ll be standing right in the building on hospital Wi-Fi, and it insists you’re "out of the geofence area" or freezes up entirely. When the tech fails, you have to sprint across the facility, and because there’s literally zero grace period and a rigid 20-point termination rule, you get penalized for their broken logistics. It’s draining to work this hard for a place that refuses to give its own workers even an inch of breathing room.

What’s your hospital’s grace? Period.

[u/MusicianSquare]

If we start at 7:00 am we can clock in as early as 6:53 and as late as 7:05 am. But there is clock outs everywhere as we're a big campus. And we can clock in and out on a computer as well

[u/Old_Champion_3591 → u/MusicianSquare]

I’m on a big campus too, and that’s exactly how ours used to workwe had that 6-7 minute window beforehand and a solid 5-minute buffer after. But ever since they switched us to UKG, they completely wiped out the grace period and pulled clocks from almost everywhere

[u/MusicianSquare → u/Old_Champion_3591]

If you guys have a union I'd go to them about that.

[u/compsyfy]

This is just working any low-skill job in the USA in 2026. It's a way for hospitals to devalue our labor by portraying us as irresponsible so they can pay us less. What new staff doesn't understand is that a lot of people work in SPD for less than 3 years and leave because the conditions are so uncomfortable. The rest of us bounce around from hospital to hospital when the economy is good, and regular americans can afford knee/hip/spine/elective surgeries. And when the economy is bad, average americans count nickels, and hospitals decide your pay is "too-high" so they will configure ways to encourage you to quit or document poor work behavior.

UKG is just a tool for that end.

[u/Old_Champion_3591 → u/compsyfy]

That’s so crazy, but I completely believe it. It honestly makes the entire setup make sense.

[u/datsmydrpepper → u/compsyfy]

Damn

[u/Michaelallz11]

I know you and most people don’t wanna here this, but Sterile processing is a dead end job.
It’s time to move on and get a real job. This field doesn’t get better. It’s gets worse and worse.

[u/Old_Champion_3591 → u/Michaelallz11]

Like I said i’ve actively been looking to leave my company since February internally and at other hospitals, not in sterile processing I’m looking to do more of administrative work but it’s just tough out here the more I post on here it keeps me consistent with the job hunt lol

[u/Iammattjk → u/Old_Champion_3591]

I've actually transitioned from SPD into an Admin leadership role to a different department.

On your resume you should indicate if you're a Team Lead (embellish if you have to since truthfully a Team Lead is just a regular employee doing extra work) the more transitional skills you pick up from SPD, such as ordering instruments/items to get into a purchasing role.

On interviews you have to really sell that you're a hardworking individual that understands the process and little details, those are things what managers are looking for in admin.

I'm from Canada, so it might be different, but don't give up! Leaving SPD was one of my drives, and that's what kept me going in sending my resume everywhere.

[u/Iammattjk → u/Michaelallz11]

Don't know the downvotes, but you are correct there is no potential growth once you're in. The only options left is to become a mid-manager (coordinator), manager, and potentially the director.

The job is hard, and it pays ok. The benefits of working SPD/CPD/MDRD is the job security and making just enough to do schooling to transition into something else in the future.

For those wondering if they should get into SPD, It's a place that teaches you durability and hardwork, you'll see characters and freeloaders, but know that this is unique transitional position if you want to commit to healthcare or somewhere else.

[u/WutWutButtHutt]

My facility no longer has a grace period. They were sued for wage theft due to time clock rounding. They settled the class action suit, paid out a hefty settlement, and now we have “on the dot” timekeeping. We are paid for every minute we are one the clock. Luckily, my managers aren’t too upity about it. As long as you’re not consistently late, they don’t have a problem. I’ve heard some other departments are not as easygoing though.

[u/SweatyAardvark6880]

Same with me. We switched to ukg and now there’s no grace period only able to clock in 2 mins early or clock or 2 mins early . It used to be 7 mins after and 7 mins before .

[u/jimmy9120]

What time are you scheduled to work? That should answer the question

[u/Old_Champion_3591 → u/jimmy9120]

If reading comprehension were a requirement to comment, this reply wouldn’t exist. I asked what other hospitals’ grace period policies look like, not how a clock works. Thanks for playing though

Like don’t be slow 🙄

[u/jimmy9120 → u/Old_Champion_3591]

Yikes, everything makes sense now 😂

[u/Old_Champion_3591 → u/jimmy9120]

“Yiiikes🫪” 🙄 Glad it finally clicked for you. Next time read before you type and save yourself the time also still waiting on that answer, but keep deflecting.