New here? Register in under one minute   Already a member? Login244945 questions, 1084256 answers  

  DearCupid.ORG relationship advice
  Got a relationship, dating, love or sex question? Ask for help!Search
 New Questions Answers . Most Discussed Viewed . Unanswered . Followups . Forums . Top agony aunts . About Us .  Articles  . Sitemap

Can they really expect more hours without overtime pay?

Tagged as: Big Questions<< Previous question   Next question >>
Question - (20 June 2016) 17 Answers - (Newest, 26 June 2016)
A female United States age 41-50, anonymous writes:

Hello, I moved to the US few months ago and I'm working in financie field and have an exempt full time position. I was hired for 40 hours work per week but my supervisor stating that we all must put some extra hours every week. I do come early every day and take a short lunch and if I need to work more I stay more but can you hire someone for 40 hours and demand that you have to put more hours with no overtime paid? thank you for your help.

<-- Rate this Question

Reply to this Question


Share

Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question!

A female reader, CindyCares Italy +, writes (26 June 2016):

CindyCares agony aunt OP, not to antagonize you, because obviously you are entitled to your opinions, about capitalism and about everything,- but I am just curious. It seems we are living in two different Europes, and have been living in two different USA . Europe is not crashing economically ?! Compare people's lifestyles ?

Yes, compare them. Compare the unemployement rates , particularly among the under 30. Compare fiscal pressure. Compare upward mobility. The possibilities of career and the selection / promotion criteria . The percentage of people with a college degree. Even the average housing surface occupied, what's a studio in California hosts a family of 4 or 5 in some European countries !

Of course, Europe is huge, diversified and multifaceted. Switzerland too is in Europe, and there the minimum wage is about 25 euros an hour- not too bad for mopping floors.

But then we have all Eastern Europe, and Greece and Spain and Italy... they are not doing stellar right now even in UK or France...in much vaunted Germany it's true that the average salary is about 2580 euros a month, sounds like a nice bundle , it is also true that if you want to live about survival level , good old fashioned " middle- class " way, that's approx. what you'd spend in a month.

Do you know that if you lived in Italy recurring expenses would eat away at about 80 % of your monthly take home pay ? I am not talking about fiscal drag- I am just talking about recurring expenses, those you can't avoid if you want to survive ( rent- or mortgage-, food, utilities). Then again, the average for the European Community is about 70 percent. You don't get very tired on the job , I guess, then again you don't have much disposable income to spend on your leisure hours.

Another thing that maybe you aren't duly taking into account is that the 35 hours a week schedule even in Europe mostly applies to public offices ( civil service ) but not to the private sector. If you work in a private owned , not state- managed or state supervised oufit, in several European countries you can forget about punching the clock . You work what's there to work- if you want to keep your job and not get rid of with the first available excuse . It's a jungle out there, yes- but not just an American jungle.

Said that, I am not singing the praise of the " rat race " at all costs. One is entitled to have other priorities in in life, and in your case, OP, if you have children at home, I understand perfectly your frustration, and your need/want to prioritize your family over money/ career.

If you don't want to be part of the " rat race " you sure have excellent reasons, and the right to get out of the race and focus on yourself. But you can't expect to STOP the race also for the many people for whom it works just fine.

<-- Rate this answer

A male reader, Serpico United States +, writes (26 June 2016):

Female anon -

First off, its work "ethic," not work "ethics." Totally different concept.

And you can call capitalism "slavery" all you want, but in the end, the true free market system wins. Rail against it all you want, the free market wins because the free market is US. It is everyone, voting with their actions and their money. Any attempt to tinker with that free mechanism almost always creates an inefficiency, leading to a lower aggregate standard of living.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, anonymous, writes (25 June 2016):

Serpico, do you know what work ethics mean? So European don't have work ethics? wow, Just because they don't pretend? For your info all my reviews are above expectations and I get excellent comments for my performance all the time. I made a huge change in the department as I have a engineering degree too. So I do have a work ethic as other Europian! EU is not crashing compare peoples life styles in the US and Europe so you can't tell me you are doing better here by any means! by the way I get lots of job offers still, maybe in your positions 1000 of people are waiting to get your spot but I am not insecure! they came after me I have never looked for any job here! And I will back home in 2 years. Capitalism means slavery just open your eyes to see it and don't be so proud. Look at your cashiers here that should stand up for 8 hours! if you are not against the chair by the way!

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, CindyCares Italy +, writes (25 June 2016):

CindyCares agony aunt I have to agree with Serpico- although personally being an European and a laid back, unambitious person :)

That's not slavery, it's capitalism, for good and for bad. It's a system that has its obvious dark side, and it's obvious advantages. Advantages that you could only dream of once you get stuck in one of those cushy, comfy, poorly paid, 35 or 38 h. on the dot ! white collar jobs that are so popular in some European countries.

It's a matter of choices in life. Maybe you are in the wrong country, the wrong system, or the wrong field for you . If you privilege quality time spent with your own family over income, prestige and recognition, that's a totally respectable choice,...maybe even the wiser one. But then, you are not in the right job and the right place, because you are not likely either to take advantage or to appreciate the breaks that your current position and relative worlkoad may bring you ( if you play your cards right, which you are not interested in doing ).

The USA corporate system is a meritocratic one, - and a fiercely competitive one. That means that if you are good at what you do, and willing to bust your ass for a period of time, chances are that you'l end up with the megabucks, the advancements, and the attached relative freedom to organize your work, delegate , and basically custom-cut your work hours to suit your personal needs. But this after- after you have proven yourself, as you do not intend to do , ( for , I don't doubt, excellent reasons - but that's not the point ).

Let's be realistic, OP- I don't know exactly what you do and your age, so I have to be necessarily vague and imprecise, but , let's say that you have 10 years of experience in a middle level executive position. In any european country ( but Denmark, where you 'd make good money too ) you could probably stick to your 35-38 hours a week schedule ... and you would make from 75 % less ( yes, I am not kidding. Hungary is Europe too ) to 30 % less of what you are making now. Even considering the high cost of living in an USA city . And you'd have less chances of career advancement because promotions would be given based on seniority of service at best , or cronyism and personal favouritism at worse.

Conclusion- surely I am not one to reproach you because you want to have time to " stop and smell the roses ", I am one of the biggest rose smellers you could meet :).

But, alas, the finance world in USA then is not where you can fit in and be happy.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A male reader, Serpico United States +, writes (25 June 2016):

Female anon - we all make choices in life. If a 9-5 40 hour a week job is what you want, generally financial services are not for you.

And since you brought up the "American slavery," it is this lack of work ethic that is exactly why the entire EU economy is collapsing around you as I write this. That said, with the entitlements that the US spends, we're not going to be far behind, but I digress...

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, anonymous, writes (25 June 2016):

Serpico do we have that many hours per week! lol maybe you are whokaholic or young with no family but when you have a life out there working ,sorry living and sleeping! based on your hours, at work is not feasible. What you do is unusual and you don't expect everyone with 2 small children waiting at home to go home at 9 pm right! I'm from Europe and not use to this slavery in the US.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A male reader, Serpico United States +, writes (24 June 2016):

Im going to break it down for you. I used to work as an exempt employee in a financial field. My hours? 100 hours a week as an analyst. 85 hours a week as an associate. 60 hours a week as a VP. 50 hours a week as a SVP. Thats over a ten year period of promotions.

You have completely the wrong attitude to work in the field you do. You should be going to your boss asking him what more you can do, not whining about overtime. If you have anywhere near a decent financial job with good advancement prospects, there are 1,000 people behind you with Ivy League degrees who would just love to take your job.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, anonymous, writes (21 June 2016):

Yes, if you are on salary it's just one of those things that can be expected of you. I believe they are changing the laws so that if you make under a certain salary you must log your hours and be paid for overtime.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, anonymous, writes (21 June 2016):

I'm the OP- Thank you all. I checked my hire letter. I't says 40 hours per week. I earn a little above 50k so I am classified as an exempt. The problem is few months after they hire me they terminated someone from our department and we are short staffed and ofcours my supervisor won't hire anybody for this position as long as she makes us to do the job by requiring us to put more hours which I found unfair!

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, anonymous, writes (21 June 2016):

Right now, you can be an exempt from overtime employee if you make more than $23660, but DOL is looking to change this to a minimum salary of $47476/year. So, it might be soon that if you make less than that, that you must be paid overtime or it will be considered wage theft.

However, I used to work at a bank, I won't mention which one, that did this to me & others in my dept. They set us up as "exempt" employees, but then regularly (almost every week) expected us to work overtime without extra pay. We also had to record our hours and would not be paid the same if we worked less than 40. Enough of us brought this up and DOL did come in & do an audit. They found that the bank should not have classified us as "exempt" and they paid all the employees still working there quite a bit of restitution for the stolen hours over the last 4 years.

One of my old co-workers actually paid for his daughter's wedding with the proceeds, if that indicates how lucrative that was.

Anyway, maybe see if you can visit an employment attorney for a free consultation to ask the question with your particulars. Might be worth pursuing if you are being taken advantage of. This could happen if your employer cannot show that your job can be reasonably done in 40 hours, or if they have you working a job that they should have for 2, etc.

Also write/call your congressman & state senators about the new overtime rule change, make sure they know how you feel about that too.

Best of luck.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A male reader, Garbo United States +, writes (21 June 2016):

Garbo agony auntThere are situations where despite the contract, it is in your best interest to work extra as the boss says. Few years ago I was under contract where my day ended at 4:15 pm but the boss "encouraged" that we all work extra, especially have constructive extra projects on the side otherwise it will reflect negatively on the employment review which was separate. So look into contract but also on repercussions particularly if it is not a union job.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, CindyCares Italy +, writes (21 June 2016):

CindyCares agony aunt Of course they can expect extra hours without paying overtime - " exempt employee " means precisely that you are an employee who is exempt from the application of the Fair Labour Standards Act in re. to minimal wages and overtime.

Check if you really qualify as an exempt employee though. There are some conditions that qualify you, or not, as exempt.

For instance, you have to earn at least 455 USD a week. And you have to be a genuine, bona fide executive , administrative, professional , computer or outside sales employee.

In short, the job title does not count, it counts what you do. For employers it's appealing to have exempt employees so the less scrupolous , to hire you as exempt, will give you fancy , important titles... and in practice will have you shining everybody's shoes.

There are specific requirements for each of the above categories to see if you are a real exempt. Check with the Wage and Hours Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, anonymous, writes (21 June 2016):

If you get paid as an exempt salaried employee, then yes, it's normal to put in some over time... usually around an extra hour or two per day.

An exempt employee mean every pay period, you get paid a fixed dollar amount. You are not entitled to over time pay. On that same note, exempt employees get paid a full day's pay whether the work 8 hours per day or not. If you work anything more than 4 hours, you automatically get paid for the entire day. Good side to it is, you can work 4 hours and get paid for 8 hours. Bad side is you work 12 hours but still only get paid for 8 hrs.

If you are a NON exempt employee, you will be paid an hourly rate and you will get over time if worked over 8 hrs and double time if worked over 12 hours. If you work less than 8 hours, you only get paid for the hours you actually worked.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, llifton United States +, writes (21 June 2016):

llifton agony auntThe answer is it depends. It depends on your contract you signed with them when you joined their company. I encourage you to pull that out and reread over it. If you don't have a copy of it, ask your employer to print you off a copy. Take a look at what you signed and agreed to.

Important things to look at: are you salaried or an hourly employee? That makes a BIG difference. Salaried employees are paid a set rate regardless of if they work 15 hours or 70 hours per week. Hourly employees are just that; paid by the hour, and overtime is required.

Overall just take a look at your contract and see what you agreed to. Good luck.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, Tisha-1 United States +, writes (20 June 2016):

Tisha-1 agony auntRead your employment contract. I found you a link which could help you determine your rights in your specific state and situation.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/america2.htm

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, jls022 United Kingdom +, writes (20 June 2016):

My place of work is like that in the sense I'm officially on a 35 hour contract but I'm paid an annual salary. The overall amount is higher than I'd get if I were on an hourly wage but the assumption is that I'll work extra as and when it's required. That usually ends up between 40-45 hours per week. Definitely check your contract to see what it says.

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

A female reader, Honeypie United States + , writes (20 June 2016):

Honeypie agony auntLook at your contract. If that doesn't clearly state it, contact HR.

But no, I don't think they CAN make you work extra hours for "free".

<-- Rate this answer

...............................   

Add your answer to the question "Can they really expect more hours without overtime pay?"

Already have an account? Login first
Don't have an account? Register in under one minute and get your own agony aunt column - recommended!

All Content Copyright (C) DearCupid.ORG 2004-2008 - we actively monitor for copyright theft

0.0312762000030489!