If you are working when you clock in early or out later than your shift,should you get overtime pay?

Question

We have alot of employees that clock in early or stay later and are actually working. I believe they should be paid. The policy says that you won't get paid for clocking in 30 minutes early or up to 15 minutes later. But this is against the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law states you should be paid for any time worked over 40 hours per week.

Answer 1

It depends on whether the employees are exempt or not. An exempt employee is just that - exempt from the labor laws. More often than not, exempt employees are referred to as salaried.

If the employee is not exempt, then yes, they do have to be paid for the hours they work. Generally, it should be for anything over 8 hours a day. However, I've heard of companies defining it as anything over 40 hours a week. In every case that I've been aware of, companies that do this are really finding ways to get around the spirit of the law. For instance, if an employee works 10 hours for 4 days and then the 5th day takes leave, they will say that the 8 extra hours do not count because total hours "worked" did not exceed 40.

If you're not exempt, it's worth your while to look up the labor laws for your area. Items, such as 2 ten minute paid work breaks that are required by law, are worth knowing about.

Answer 2

Company policy and the law generally conflict.
Most companies will not allow you to clock in early unless you have been called in early-usually 10 min. before start of shift and no more than 5 min. after the shift ends.
The company is supposed to pay you from the time you clock in until you clock out,but some people abuse it to get paid for time not worked.
A major change in the federal labor law in 2001 has eliminated overtime for most people if the companies choose to go with it.
If you make any kind of a decision,your employer can switch you to a salaried employee and schedule you for up to 16 hrs.per day without overtime. Then you also have the state labor laws which may also conflict with company policy and federal law.

Answer 3

The company can either approve or not approve you come and work extra hours. It is not really up to the employees to decide if they work overtime or not. If you don't like it, just wait outside the building till your time comes.

Answer 4

of course u should.....if not u shoul complain