Overtime?

You are entitled to overtime whenever you work it.

Your employer may lawfully limit the amount of overtime that you work and may require you to obtain prior authorization before you work it, such that if you work over 40 hours in a week without permission, you can be lawfully punished or even terminated. However, once you work more than 40 hours in a week, your employer must pay overtime on the hours over 40. Thus, the employer could reprimand you if you did not get authorization, but would still have to pay the overtime. Therefore, the next time you find yourself in a position where you have to work another 15 minutes, get permission. If you do not get it, point out that you will have to go home and finish up the next day so that you do not violate the work rule against overtime. Use common sense in dealing with this situation, but unless you have permission to work, the employer can hardly reprimand you for not finishing your work.

As for time spent at mandatory meetings or training, it is counted as "hours worked" and is subject to overtime. There are some exceptions to this rule, but unless the meetings or training is voluntary, you are probably entitled to overtime. The federal regulations on this are at http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_785/29CFR785.27.htm.

Best regards,

Neil Klingshirn.

posted by Neil Klingshirn  |  Jun 19, 2008 08:27 AM [EST]