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Hum ways workin around it I see but that's very few people can get that if ya don't get overtime you don't get no overtime. U get some form of compensation glad to here it.I beleave it should be a human american right to get overtime if you work full time. Now seasonal like crops and whatever u should not get overtime. I makr good money don't get me wrong just got to work hard for every penny. Hog business is like constrution the markets up then down get it while its hot. Sometimes I work over 60 most of the time its 45 or 50. No matter what anyones says you work full time u get overtime. If u work somthin out so overtime don't show or what ever u were sayin sounds like a salary. Well that can be even worse my. Line of work if ur on salary even after the 80 hour limit u still get no overtime. Put it like this owner of smithfield foods got. 10 million dollare bonus the little man like me bottom of the barrel is what gets those bonuses possible. So wonder why this wo is screwed up this ot thing is one good reason. Thank you
This is illegal. I understand that you are trying to compensate your employees for the extra hours, but the way that you are doing it is simply illegal.
It is a federal law that all hourly employees be paid overtime (at 1.5xhourly rate) for each hour worked over 40. It needs to be paid with their normal check for the week. If you pay biweekly, and the employee works 50 hours one week, and 30 the next, they need to be paid for 70 hours at regular time, and 10 at OT.
It does not matter if an employee signs saying that they are ok with this. State laws can only make OT pay more strict, not more lenient.
Any business that employs these practices risks a lawsuit for the OT pay, as well as a fine. I believe (but could be wrong) that the fine is $10,000 per violation.
There are exceptions to all of this for farm workers, but that is a small segment of the population.
Trust me on this one. If it was up to ME, those employees would be paid overtime, because I wouldn't want any disgruntled employees suing the company. I argued with my father about the overtime AND the straight time, and he REFUSES to pay any extra time whatsoever. That is the reason why I paid the extra time by adding it to their vacation time, because I wanted them to be compensated for the extra time.
Trust me on this one. If it was up to ME, those employees would be paid overtime, because I wouldn't want any disgruntled employees suing the company.
Understood. I have to say that in the (distant) past, I gave my employees the option of claiming OT vs PTO (at 1.5x actual worked), thinking that I was doing them a favor. Maybe I was, but I was also breaking the law.
We all have tough choices in life, and I understand you are relatively powerless here. Since it sounds like a family business, you may want to be extra careful though. I would not accept any portion of ownership stake in this business until/unless the OT mess you are in gets cleared up.
I do not know if officers of a corporation can be personally liable for this type of thing, or if any fines/damages are limited to the corporation/LLC. But if I were you, I would consult with a lawyer to be sure before you take an ownership stake in the company.
Wish I would have recognized the law when I was working. Our company stated that it was mandatory we would get hours off work rather than overtime if we worked over. No wonder they did not question any of our unemployment claims!
I am a "secretary" for a public school in Michigan. I just asked if I could bank my overtime hours and take time off at a later date. I was told, no, because someone had abused this in the past by saving time until the end of the year and taking 4 days at once. There is no way I will be able to complete all my job duties this month. I was told to do what I have to do, lots of secretaries are working for free but if I need to leave then I should leave but I am responsible to get my work done.
It does not matter to me if they pay me overtime or let me bank the time for a later date. I just don't want to work for free. Is there anyway to enforce the members of the secretary association to stop working for free? It is extremely stressful to not make deadlines when employees are counting on you.
Last edited by secretary586; 08-25-2010 at 02:44 AM..
Reason: to complete
I am a "secretary" for a public school in Michigan. I just asked if I could bank my overtime hours and take time off at a later date. I was told, no, because someone had abused this in the past by saving time until the end of the year and taking 4 days at once. There is no way I will be able to complete all my job duties this month. I was told to do what I have to do, lots of secretaries are working for free but if I need to leave then I should leave but I am responsible to get my work done.
It does not matter to me if they pay me overtime or let me bank the time for a later date. I just don't want to work for free. Is there anyway to enforce the members of the secretary association to stop working for free? It is extremely stressful to not make deadlines when employees are counting on you.
If your position is considered non-exempt, and if you are not exempt from FLSA rules and regulations then even if you wanted to you are NOT allowed to bank time versus getting paid overtime. It is against the law.
If you are non-exempt, and not exempt from FLSA then you have to be paid the hours worked-- regardless of what your employer says. Now, granted your employer could say-- this work is no longer what is necessary, or they may not allow you to work overtime, but if they allow you to "do what you need to do" and not claim the time you could report them to the labor board and get them into serious trouble.
Which makes me sick to my stomach. This kind of practice should be outlawed.
It is. Has been for a very long time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs. P
Correct, not only is it illegal, it has to do with insurance as well.
It is why my previous employer in Ohio ordered us hands down out of the office when the 40 hour week was us. If we needed overtime, it had to be approved and we were paid time 1/2.
I personally refuse to work free (as an hourly) worker for any employer. You open that gate for them (and it is ILLEGAL) the employers will take advantage of it, bet your paycheck on that.
Yup, I've worked for two employers during the last ten years that would straight up send you home when you reached 39.5 hours for the week. It didn't matter how much work needed to be done, they simply refused to allow overtime. Incidentally, at this same job, salaried employees (i.e., management) worked between 50 - 60 hours a week. They did get all kinds of bonuses and extras (gift cards to nice restaurants, movies, etc.).
And yes, I refuse to work for free, too. Yeah, there are bills to pay and food to put on the table and all of that, but I am not going help someone else get rich while I just scrape by.
Employers will always take advantage of you when ever you allow them the opportunity. What ever happened to dignity?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenn02674
Ya know what, it is true that in this economic climate companies/people will take advantage and employees won't push issues like this but it is of my opinion that it will come back and bite those companies in the ass when things start to look better and people do not put up with it anymore. Kharma is a *****!
First of all, Karma -if you believe in Karma- does not work like that. The way it works is that our deeds in THIS life are repaid in the NEXT life. Not next week, or next month.
Secondly, it's a win-win situation for the company. At the moment that are taking advantage of employees, squeezing all the work out of them that they can. When life begins to look rosy again, and these employees move on to greener pastures, they will be replaced by new hires...at a lower pay rate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenn02674
The companies that take care of their employees during times like this, even if they ask you make sacrifices, are the ones you want to stick with in the long term. Bad times bring out the best and the worst in people and the same goes for companies.
I agree with this whole-heartedly. It absolutely baffles my mind that most employers have not figured this out: that if you treat your employees with dignity, pay them decent, and generally don't jerk them around, it will ultimately cost you less to run your business. Employees who are treated unfairly are the ones who steal items from work, sabotage the copy machine, come in late and/or leave early, put whole, dead, fish in strategic locations that are hard to get at (seriously, this happened once). I even knew two brothers who got so fed up with the company's sh*t that one day they came in, grabbed the Rolodex, and left. They formed their own start-up, went through each contact, under-bidded their former employer, and effectively put him out of business.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Metamucil
I have 2 stories of employers regarding this.
I worked for this first employer for 5 years in a 15 member dept. and we got paid straight time after 40 hours. If you worked 50 hours and made $10 you'd get paid $500, not the 1.5 on the extra 10 hours. Strange considering none of us were managers. Then somebody quit and the rumour was that he reported the company to the State and they did an investigation. They basically told the company to start paying 1.5 to non-management people and pay backpay on the OT for the last 2 years. The company then got their lawyers involved and didn't mind paying a big lawyer fee to fight the State's decision. They never did pay the backpay but did start paying OT after 40.
I went through the same, but in the end the company did pay the backpay. Now, they hired a few more people so no one can work overtime unless it is absolutely needed.
Basically what happened was the owner honestly did not know that he had to pay time and half. I am not sure why he thought that, but he did, and no one in management -upper management- told him any different (probably because they were skimming off the top and didn't want to draw any attention). We were putting in 50 to 60 hours a week on a regular basis until one guy got fed up with it and looked into the situation. That was that.
The odd thing is that we were bringing home more money by NOT being paid time and half. We figured out, at time and half, that any hours worked over 54.6 would bump us into a higher tax bracket and our take home pay actually would have only been a few dollars more had we just worked a straight 40.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fishbrains
Any business that employs these practices risks a lawsuit for the OT pay, as well as a fine. I believe (but could be wrong) that the fine is $10,000 per violation..
Most companies -smart companies- would have a risk assessment done. To them, the risk of a fine often looks like the better deal, and in most cases it is. They are also banking on the fact that employees are not going to do sh*t about it. It costs money to take your employer to court, not to mention any money you will lose from hours not at work. And, let's be honest, most Americans simply do not have the cajones to do a damn thing about it. The worst that is going to happen is that the employee is going to give the company the bird and quit.
And, to everyone who keeps saying that 'in this current economic climate...'; keep in mind that employers will screw employees any time they can get away with it, even when the economy is great. The only difference is that employees are more willing to suck it up these days. It is all about the companies bottom line. Always has been, and always will be.
Understood. I have to say that in the (distant) past, I gave my employees the option of claiming OT vs PTO (at 1.5x actual worked), thinking that I was doing them a favor. Maybe I was, but I was also breaking the law.
We all have tough choices in life, and I understand you are relatively powerless here. Since it sounds like a family business, you may want to be extra careful though. I would not accept any portion of ownership stake in this business until/unless the OT mess you are in gets cleared up.
I do not know if officers of a corporation can be personally liable for this type of thing, or if any fines/damages are limited to the corporation/LLC. But if I were you, I would consult with a lawyer to be sure before you take an ownership stake in the company.
Yes, corporate officers can be personally liable in some states, as well as subject to criminal penalties, including prison time. I was usually able to get people to comply at my old company by letting them know they could go to jail for breaking wage and hour laws.
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