Whose time is overtime?
Q. Overtime is not permitted, however, our workload is overwhelming. Is it legal to have an employee clock out and then go back to complete the task (without being paid overtime)?
Anonymous
A. It appears that you are referring to hourly employees who are not exempt from the overtime requirements under state and federal law. Employers are required to pay hourly nonexempt employees for all "time worked." There are many reasons overtime, as a matter of course, is not permitted at companies. A primary reason is the cost. Overtime costs companies one and a half times the regular hourly rate for all time worked that is over 40 hours in any work week. Most often companies do not want to offer time and half for the same work employees are doing for the first 40 hours of a work week.
Companies do not want to encourage employees to do less during the standard work day so that they can then increase their compensation by needing to add additional hours of work. At the same time, employees want to have reasonable expectations of what they can accomplish in a standard work day.
When the work needed to be done exceeds current staffing, companies may allow overtime if they see this is a short term solution for an urgent need. They will also monitor how much work can be completed before the need to hire additional staff arises.
If staff members are returning to work after clocking out, management does not get an accurate picture of what can be accomplished on a standard day. How you feel about this may depend on which side of the timecard you are on.
Based on a conversation with Attorney Josh Black, of Bello Black & Welsh based in Boston, “It is unlawful to require an hourly nonexempt employee to "work off the clock" for any period of time. In fact, an employer can be penalized for knowingly allowing this to occur, even if the employer did not request employees to work without pay. There are various penalties available for this kind of violation. If a court or agency determines that the employer's violation was intentional, the employee can recover up to three times the lost wages, plus interest and his or her attorneys' fees."
It seems optimal staffing is the best resolution for an overwhelming workload for hourly staff.
Comment
Permalink
E-mail
Your employer is breaking the law every time he asks you to work 'off the clock'. Anything over 40 hours is time-and-a-half pay, unless you are a salaried employee, in which case, you're screwed and have to stay until the job is done.
Why are salaried employees exempt from overtime? People routinely work 60 hour weeks at many companies.
What is the legal basis for this?
2 -- the legal basis is simply the law that congress passed. They specifically exempt some types of salaried people from the overtime requirements. It isn't attorneys or courts, but legislators who did it. The law says outright that some jobs don't need to pay overtime and some jobs can have you work far more than 40 hours, basically.
But getting a salary isn't the test for whether you should or should not get overtime. You can be salaried but still get overtime (it is just less likely that you qualify).
Submitter-- I'm baffled. Why would you think it would be legal to require your employees to clock out before continuing to work?
The clock is there for a reason. That should be your first clue. If you have to falsify the record (which is what you're doing by having them clock out) that should be the first clue that you're doing something illegal, I'd think...
Manners, civility in general, is never out of date. It is a remarkable indicator of the state of our Commonwealth and nation.
Yup, it's illegal. I once posted the applicable Massachusetts labor laws with the important bits highlighted at a job. Passive aggressive? Yes. Effective? somewhat. The worse the economy is, the more employers will try to soak their workers for.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
about this blog
e-mail your question
Meet the Jobs Docs
Patricia Hunt Sinacole is president of First Beacon Group LLC, a human resources consulting firm in Hopkinton. Sheworks with clients across many industries including technology, biotech and medical devices, financial services, and healthcare, and has over 20 years of human resources experience.
Elaine Varelas is managing partner at Keystone Partners, a career management firm in Boston and serves on the board of Career Partners International.
Cindy Atoji Keene is a freelance journalist with more than 25 years experience. E-mail her directly here.
Peter Post is the author of "The Etiquette Advantage in Business." Email questions about business etiquette to him directly here.
browse this blog
by category