I live in Georgia. The company I work for gave letters to approximately 20 "lead men" stating that we are required to attend a 10 hour OSHA training class. The class will be held on a Saturday. This is in addition to our 40 work week. The letter states that the meeting is "mandatory". No mention of pay was made in the letter. When someone inquired, they were told, "The class itself is $400 per employee. The company is absorbing that. The employees should be thankful that we get to attend for free." That was from the project manager. When I asked my foreman about it, he told me, "Sometimes you have to take one on the chin." I am furious at the audacity of this. Can someone who is familiar with labor law, please inform me to the legality of this? What steps (if any) can employees take to insure we are paid? What repricussions could there be if we refused to attend, or just didn't show up? Thank you.
2007-02-20 13:33:50 · 5 answers · asked by fungal_gourmet 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
well since OSHA is now being required by law depending on what field you work in then i would say no he shoudlnt have to pay you but he does have to offer a course for free
but i would however recomend callign your local better buisness bureou
2007-02-20 13:41:10 · answer #1 · answered by T 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since you say leadmen I am assuming all employees are hourly.
Your employer can get around having to pay you by instituting a policy stating that to maintain your position as a leadman you must attend an OSHA 10 hour class. The policy should give you the option of taking the company's class or attending one on your own, it cannot make attendance mandatory.
If the company is stating that attendence is mandatory then they must compensate hourly employees. If they are offering this class for free to ease the burden of compliance with the company policy then it can be seen as a benefit, not mandatory uncompensated overtime.
Georgia doesn't maintain an office of Wage and Hour, in GA it is administered by the federal Department of Labor (who also administers OSHA).
2007-02-21 03:59:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's my understanding: Hourly paid employees are to be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a work week. Most supervisory personnel do not get paid overtime since they are paid a set amount (monthly or annually) and have usually signed a contract type paper showing this. But they can get extra time off for compensation. Fair Labor and Wage laws are controlled by the Federal government.
2016-05-24 00:26:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure it's illegal. If the company has required your attendance in writing, the company should be required to pay your time. However it looks as though you will have to decide if it is worth taking the company to court. If you do, I would make sure you have the backing of a sizable number of employees. Don't try to go it alone. Unless, of course, you have another guaranteed job waiting for you.
2007-02-20 13:42:18 · answer #4 · answered by Mr Ed 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are an exempt employee, then you don't have to be paid. If you are non-exempt, they should have to give you comp time off.
You can call the dept of labor's whistleblower hotline and make a confidential complaint. Your employer is required by law to post information about this hotline.
2007-02-20 13:55:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋