Working requirement for more than 40 hours
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Working requirement for more than 40 hours
I am currently working a rotating 4 week shift. I work 2 weeks Monday through Friday normal working hours. 7 straight days of evenings and then a swing week of Wednesday and Thursday, off Monday, Tuesday and Friday. My concern is during the 7 straight days there are a Saturday and Sunday, there has to be 12 hours coverage. Currently, we have a 4 hour person coverage from 2 pm to 6 pm that relieves in the middle of the day where the normal shift only works 8 hours instead of 12 hours. This person receives 4 hours comp time for the coverage. There is a proposal to do away with the 4 hour person therefore the normal shift will be working 12 hours with no overtime or comp time for the extra 4 hours. Is the company obligated to either give the the normal 4 hours comp or overtime pay? The week this happens you would be working 48 total hours.
Asked on May 28, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
The law is very simple: when you work more than 40 hours in a single workweek, if you are not-exempt from overtime (which includes if you are paid on an hourly, not salaried, basis), you must be paid overtime (time-and-a-half) for all time past 40 hours. Except as provided below, not only must you receive overtime for hours past 40 in a week, but your employer cannot substitute comp time for it--they can give you comp time in addition to base pay or overtime if they want, but they can't offer comp time instead of overtime: getting overtime is the law.
IF you are working for a government agency under a union contract which provides for comp time instead of overtime, in that case, you could get comp time rather than overtime when the contract says you should--but this is for all practical purposes, the only exception to the obligation to provide overtime to nonexempt employees. All private sector nonexempt employees (which again includes all hourly employees) get overtime.
If you are not receiving overtime when you should, contact the department of labor about filing an overtime complaint.
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