Can my boss make me work without pay?
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Can my boss make me work without pay?
My boss is mandating a staff development on a Saturday without pay. However, we are to be cleaning and organizing our classrooms. It is clearly work-related. Can they still make me come in if I’m not getting paid?
Asked on May 12, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
If you are an hourly employee, you must be paid for all hours worked--including for staff development or meetings, since both are work when mandated by the employer, and including when such occurs on a weekend (or otherwise not during normal work hours), and also including required preparatory or cleaning time. So if you are paid on an hourly basis, you should be paid for this (and be paid overtime for the week, if you end up working more than 40 hours).
If you are instead paid on an annual salary basis, however, there is no need to provide you additional pay for working on a weekend--your salary covers all your work, including sometimes when you work slightly less (e.g. have a half day due to a pending holiday or conferences) and also when you work slightly more (e.g. a Saturday staff development).
The above said, if your job is governed by a contract, check the contract to see what it says--employment and union contracts are enforceable, including what they say about weekend work, additional compensation, etc.
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