IS THERE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON UNPAID OVERTIME
WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON UNPAID OVERTIME? My employer asked me to start skipping my lunchbreak to help get caught up on deliveries until company hired more drivers. I worked 30min/day overtime for 10 days. I told manager I worked 42 and a half hours last week and again this week too but you only gave me 40hrs pay. He said "Yeah man, don't you remember? I asked you to do me a favor and skip your lunch breaks. I never said I need you to work paid overtime. You were just doing that as a favor to me to help us get caught up. The company has a policy against letting drivers get overtime and you should have known that if you had read your policy handbook like you were required". He then convinced me to continue working 30min/day FREE OVERTIME for an additional 33 days after that. I worked a total of 21/half hrs OT and didn't even get paid my normal hourly wage of 9.50/hr. I felt I had to agree to it or there would be some form of retaliation later on. Both my managers were infamous for breaking company rules and getting away with it because they always made sales quota.
1 answer | asked May 9, 2007 4:59 PM [EST] | applies to Ohio
Answers (1)
The federal overtime law has a two year statute of limitations. You are well within it. If you prove that your employer willfully violated your overtime rights, as would appear to be the case here, the statute of limitations expands to three years to bring an overtime claim.
On the merits of your claim, I do not see anything in the employer's excuse that is valid. If the company has a rule against working overtime, then it waived that rule by asking you to work overtime. Further, even if the company had not waived the rule, you are still entitled to overtime pay for the overtime hours that you worked. That is, the company might be able to discipline you for not following the no overtime rule, but it cannot refuse to pay you for overtime hours that you actually worked.
Finally, an agreement to work for free or any other agreement not to be paid the required overtime is invalid.
I suggest that you contact the wage and hour division of the federal department of labor and file a complaint. Be aware, however, that there is an exemption from overtime under the Motor Carrier's Act that applies to big rig and hazardous material truck drivers.
Regards,
Neil.
posted by Neil Klingshirn | May 9, 2007 6:19 PM [EST]
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