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I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this, but here goes. My boss says at work that it is now mandatory that I work 51-60 hours a week. I don't mind working the occasional overtime, but I think 51-60 hours a week is really asking too much. My job is also is physical factory work so lately I have been feeling very physically exhausted for weeks because of it. I also feel very mentally unsharp lately, and just feel like I need more rest and relaxation and need to work less. I don't have much of a life anymore because of it. I like manual labor cause it keeps me in shape and it's like going to the gym. But no one wants to go to the gym for 51-60 hours a week.
I looked it up and the law stipulates that I don't have to work anymore than 44 hours a week if I do not want to. But when you have a boss that keeps hammering that it's mandatory to the employees, what is the best option in this case, without risk of being let go or thought of as a bad employee compared to everyone who works the overtime?
Me and a co-worker talked to the problem and we decided to go do the man in human resources about it. The man said that we were right and the boss is not allowed to do that. So he was in awkward position and told the boss that. That helped us for a few days, but now the boss has fired the human resources man, and we are on our own now to deal with it.
But it is affecting my physical/mental health for sure. What should I do? Thanks.
Your state labor board may have something to say to your boss. Is your boss asking you to work 55-60 hours but only pay 40? Or is the 60 hrs OT and DT. If it's all paid for sock the 20 hrs a week away in a account or max out the 401k
I get payed all the proper extra overtime. But that's not the point. The point is, is that it's effecting my physical health and the overtime is all mandatory unless you want to worry about losing the job. I feel I need to work less for my physical health, even though it means less money.
Sounds like you may need a new job. Good luck. Otherwise, you could at least do the research on Dept of Labor website...Maybe there will be something there.
If you are an hourly employee, your boss can demand that you work any number of hours, so long as you are paid for those hours and so long as meal and break periods are observed.
Well I looked it up and it says that he cannot legally force someone to work more than 44 hours a week. It depends on where you live too. I live in Saskatchewan, Canada if that makes a difference.
Your boss is an idiot. Contact an attorney and then your labor authorities. You want to at least have an attorney apprised of the situation and willing to go to bat for you (in other words, have a big honkin baseball bat to wave at the boss) before disturbing his hornet nest. Be prepared to find other work while you wait for him to settle.
A boss can ask an hourly employee to work as much as is needed for the company's needs. If at any point in your employment onboarding process, or during your employment, it was communicated that you would be required to work overtime as neccesary you're stuck. And it's obvious you agreed to those terms because you work the overtime now. If in your onboarding process OT was never agreed upon, and If you refused to ever work overtime when asked the first time, then you would have a foot to stand on, legally at least. Once you accept overtime those are the terms of your employment. I worked for an employer that expected 50+ hour warehouse shifts yearlong. The only time they couldn't keep us past is 14 hours in 1 day.
Edit: I didn't realize you're in canada. I'm not sure how the laws work there.
Last edited by UntilTheNDofTimE; 03-24-2015 at 02:32 PM..
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