can your boss make you work overtime?

Question

I mean is that illegal or somthing. Working over 40 hours a week not wanting to?Because techincally working on the nite shift you only have 1 day off i dont care at how they look at it but there is only 1 day off. if your comming in at 10:45 and leaving at 7:15 sunday-thrusday your working into friday morning making friday a work day and sat your only off day. and for whatever reason there cheap faulty equiptment wasnt working 1 day so we got behinde on production and now they want us to come in on our only off day which would be working into saturday morning ...no is that illegal everybody bodies needs time to rest and working like that your not going to get it i dont think its fair or nuffin and everytime i think about it ...that pisses me off MANDATORY OVERTIME

I mean is that illegal or somthing. Working over 40 hours a week not wanting to?Because techincally working on the nite shift you only have 1 day off i dont care at how they look at it but there is only 1 day off. if your comming in at 10:45 and leaving at 7:15 sunday-thrusday your working into friday morning making friday a work day and sat your only off day. and for whatever reason there cheap faulty equiptment wasnt working 1 day so we got behinde on production and now they want us to come in on our only off day which would be working into saturday morning ...no is that illegal everybody bodies needs time to rest and working like that your not going to get it i dont think its fair or nuffin and everytime i think about it ...that pisses me off MANDATORY OVERTIME

p.s. the only reason why i am bi-tching is because this is my birthday weekend i have plans to relax and pamper myself and if i break my engagments scheduled im paying if my job re-imbrusts me for that fine ....

Answer 1

you did not say what state you are in. there is no federal law that prohibits mandatory overtime, and that's what most states say too. they just have to pay you overtime. you can post your question on this thread in more detail, they have experts in overtime law that respond there.
http://www.laborlawtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11

Answer 2

I think it may depend on what state you are in. Some states have laws that control how many consecutive days an employer can work a full time employee. Every 13 days the employee must get time off for example.
If you live a "right to work" state your employer can actually fire you if you don't fulfill the mandatory overtime order.
However from your post it seems that this is a recent occurrence, not something that is ongoing. If you really cannot work the extra time because of other commitments, speak with your boss and explain the situation. They will usually understand.
But if this is an emergency overtime (as it appears in your post) and you are angry over mandatory overtime because you simply want to party, your boss may remember your absence the next time a promotion or raise is up for grabs.
My suggestion: If this mandatory overtime is simply a way for your company to catch up on lost production time over a weekend- do it. To do otherwise will reflect badly on your work ethic, character, and attitude.

Answer 3

If it's stated in your work agreement yes, also if stated in the Company Policy the answer can be yes.
All the company is looking at is the bottom dollar line, this goes for nearly all companies.
Things in the workplace are only going to get worse I am sorry to say, just look up any country site in the work choices section and you'll get an idea of what I mean.Here if our building and construction workers go out on stop work meetings over safety issues that haven't been addressed they can be fined up to $25K
each, the union faces fines up around the $100K or more, plus there is a six month jail sentance attatched as well. Welcome to Australia under Liberal Howard.

Answer 4

It's a catch 22. It's not illegal, but there's no protection from the Department of Labor for employees who refuse to work overtime. Furthermore, to complicate the issue, there’s other things to factor into the question: Are you in a labor union? Are you exempt (typically a salaried employee) or non-exempt employee? And last but certainly not least, what is your company's policy pertaining to mandatory overtime? In a nutshell, no you don't have to work mandatory overtime, but totally expect your refusal to work the OT to be used as a weapon by management against you (I.E. - bad performance review, passed over for a raise or promotion, or terminated for insubordination).

Answer 5

God what a whiney question. I've worked upwards of 7 days a week for as much as 100 hours a week for months at a time.

Try supporting your own way through school. I worked fulltime and went to school fulltime for about 5 years. I didn't take out one loan, I didn't receive one grant or scholorship.

One day is not going to kill you. And yes I have done hard labor.

Answer 6

Unless you are under contract, then you are operating under free will employment.

They can make you work whatever they want. They can change your hours, your pay, whatever.

You also have the option to leave whenever you want.

Keep in mind that if you don't do what they say they can fire you. But if you don't like what they tell you to do you can quit.

Michael

Answer 7

it has to say in your contract that mandatory overtime may be issued, if it says optional overtime may be offered or it dosent say then they cannot, under any circumstance MAKE you work overtime.

i suggest seeing your union leader