Overtime or not?

Question

I am working for a small company. It is a small conveinent store and I work at 2 store of theirs. I have worked a total of 54 and 50 hrs the past few eeks for them combined. 20 hrs one store and 30 at the other. Are they suppose to pay me overtime for those hrs over 40 even though I am not getting more than 40 at one store? Some people have told yes cause its the same company. I want to get a few opinions from here.

I will use a ficticious name for company....Smith's and Smith's Mkt. husband writes check for one store and the wife for the other...no different managers at the 2 stores...husband and wife run both stores.

Answer 1

I managed convenience stores for over 4 years.

You should be paid O.T. for any hours over 40 in a given week, as long as the same parent company is paying you. The fact that you are working in 2 seperate locations doesn't allow them to treat you
as only part-time employee at each store.

If each location has a seperate manager, that could be the main problem ....... since they only enter the hours each employee works in THEIR store. But if you bring it to their attn., they should be required to notify parent company to pay you the proper O.T. amounts.

And they should have payroll records going
back at least 2-3 years, so you should request
that they check each week for your combined
hours and give you all O.T. that you should've
been paid from start.

Good luck collecting ....... you are in the right,
If they aren't willing to cooperate, don't hesitate
to contact your state office for assistance.

Answer 2

You stated the the husband writes a check (smiths) and the wife writes a check (smiths Market). It sounds it me as if you work for 2 different stores (employers) but run by the same family. If the checks have different names on them, then you really don't have a Legal Case because they are set up as two legal business. If you are paid under one check (smiths LLC or Smiths LLP) but the checks have different address on them, then you have a case.
Either way You should speak to them, camly, in the off hours (not during your shift and not there busy times) and state that you are alittle confused about your pay check. State to them that you worked between the two stores 50 hours and that you thought that you should be paid ten hours of overtime. Think about what you want to say, think about what there answers will be before you go and speak to them. Don't be a hot head and no threats. If you are a good employee (you do show up on time/ all the time) you will all work it out so you are paid properly for your time, But if your goof off and have less the a steller work attendance record, just call in and find another job.
Remember is all could a mistake (maybe the husband and wife don't communicate well) and if you bring it to there attention in a nice way they will either tell you why they don't have to pay you overtime or they will pay you the money they shorted you.

Answer 3

do you have the option of working at one store or the other? can you work at 1 store and then go home? or are you required to work both locations each day ? could you quit 1 job and keep the other..? if they are 2 separate jobs w/ 2 separate pay checks than no overtime. if it is one job w/ 1 paycheck than you should politely negotiate o.t. and you should continue to be paid for the travel time between locations....look them right in the eye and negotiate your heart off... they know exactly what they are doing. dont be ashamed to stand up for what you feel is right. be prepared to walk... but dont leave till you have another job.. then leave w/o notice..they had their chance.. you may consider going to the deptment of labor if you want to know the facts and law.[ you might end up with back pay] even if they are not required to pay o.t. you can [and should] still negotiate a salary YOU are comfortable with... if you are a valuble worker you'll get what you want..

Answer 4

u are onto something here, i am not an expert in such matters but i think u have a legit case here, try to get legal advice and have ur lawyer write them a formal request letter for OT or something like that, but try talking it over with them first, the wife first and then the husband if u don't get good results. If it gets to litigation i am sure u'll win...try not to bite more than u can chew though, if u decided to work OT voluntarily then ur case might crumble like a big cookie, but something might give, the police can discover some unpaid taxes or illegal transactions, u can even go right ahead and sue them for something more serious or sinister and get a big pay check from them, be careful, act wisely and get a good lawyer, good luck

Answer 5

legally, if both stores are the same company, you get overtime pay. in this case, you would get overtime pay for the combined number of hours and does not differ from X & Y hours from individual stores.

ie. if Bob works for Z-Mart at location A for 10 hours and Z-Mart at location B for 50 hours, he would be entitled for overtime because Z-Mart is one entity. physical location does not matter.

However, if they are two different companies, then they are treated seperately. If you worked for one of those companies over 40 hours, you would be entitled to OT.

You need to determine if they are one or two companies.

oh... and you are entitled to retro pay if this is in favour to you.

Answer 6

Wow, good question I don't know though, just because I've worked in union factories and they had to pay OT over 40hrs, and I'm in Ontario, Canada so it is probably different out here than the states, call your labour board and ask them the same question you just asked everyone they should be able to answer that for you. Good Luck..

Answer 7

As long as it is one company ( you get paycheck for both stores from same employer) , they have to pay you overtime (unless you are a salary employee then you dont get paid for overtime in most cases)

Answer 8

You should be entitled to the overtime.
However, many small business owners, especially those that manage multiple outlets themselves, see them as separate entities, and will try to screw you.
If they pay, you work for a good company.
If they don't, start looking for another job, because it will only get worse