The abuse and misuse of mandatory overtime is becoming a nationwide epidemic for the nursing career. Many hospitals are facing huge shortages of employees and they are using mandatory overtime in order to supplement staffing. According to researcher and author Annette Bernhardt, “Of workers asked to report early or stay late, 70 percent had an "off the clock" violation--they received no pay for work they performed outside their regular shift.” (Bernhardt 1). Research is showing that nurses are more prone to accidents when they are fatigue by longer hours than typical. Mandatory overtime is causing a large and important problem that needs to be rectified, as it can have damaging effects.