Mandatory 50 hour work week for salary workers.
The big boss decided to make it manadatory for the entire engineering office to work 50 hour work weeks for the next two months. No explanation was given and no compensation was mentioned for working 50 hours a week. Nobody in the engineering group wants to work these hours without some type of compensation. How do you suggest we go about this as a group to sit down with the big boss to discuss some type of benefit for us since we are all paid salary. We all think the big boss made this decision based upon this year being a slow year and he wants to show his boss's some type of a profit for killing us by working the 50 hours for the next two months. Help? Suggestions on how we can get compensated or tell him we aren't doing it.
2 answers | asked Oct 1, 2003 11:34 AM [EST] | applies to Illinois
Answers (2)
Depending on your job responsibilities, you may be exempt from the requirements of time and a half for overtime. You really need an attorney to review your work and reporting structures. If you are not exempt (usually because you are not managing anyone and have no special education) we can determine your regular hourly pay by dividing your salary by 40 hours a week and then you should get time and a half for the overtime. This is a matter of Federal Law so the boss can't avoid it if it is owed to you. If not, there may be other solutions. Please feel free to contact us or one of the other fine employment attorneys in Illinois.
Aaron Maduff
posted by Aaron Maduff | Oct 1, 2003 10:23 PM [EST]
With regard to the compensation, if you are an exempt worker (under the fair labor standards act) you are out of luck, unless the employer has somehow destroyed the exemption. You would need someone to look into your specific job duties to determine whether you fall under the professional exemption or whether you would be entitled to overtime. If however you approach him as a group to complain and he retaliates against you you may have a claim under the national labor relations act, assuming you are covered by the act. Go to the national labor relations board to file a charge if he retaliates. Good luck.
posted by Alejandro Caffarelli | Oct 1, 2003 11:53 AM [EST]
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