Can an employer extend your scheduled lunch time to keep from paying you overtime?
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Can an employer extend your scheduled lunch time to keep from paying you overtime?
My employer is working me an extra 30 minutes each day and extending my lunch time by 30 minutes to keep from paying overtime for the 30 minutes.
Asked on March 6, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
It's legal so long as you are not working during your lunch--i.e. it's really a lunch break. Overtime is based on total hours worked each week: an hourly worker gets overtime when he works more than 40 hours in a week. The particular or exact hours worked do not matter, and the employer has discretion to schedule the work. So an employer can make you work 30 minutes later, but give you an extra 30 minutes unpaid (and again, that means no working; if you work during lunch, you must be paid) lunch break in the middle of the day to compensate.
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