Is it legal to make an employee work 7 days a week 8-12 hours a day?

Question

Can an employeer have a 40 hour a week employee who is on salary work like that? He should at least be paying overtime, right?

Answer 1

It is required by law that he pay the worker overtime if he works more than his scheduled hours or more than the legal amount. I believe thats a higher amount, so yes most definetely.

Answer 2

If you are paid on a salary basis (you get the same amount every pay period, regardless of hours worked), then you are essentially "on the clock" 24/7 and the employer cna expect you to work evenings, weekends, etc.

If you are paid by the hour, you must receive overtime in accordance with the wage order for your industry. Different industries (mining, food service, manufacturing, etc.) have different wage orders which apply - most commonly, hourly employees receive OT for any hours over 40 worked in a week. Depending on the state in which you live, you may also be entitled to OT for anything over 8 hours in a day - not all states pay daily OT though.

There are other rules with respect to double time pay, meal and rest periods, etc., which apply to hourly workers. Again, if you are salaried, you're out of luck...sorry.

However - if you are classified as a salaried employee when the job you are performing should really be classed as hourly, you may have some recourse. Companies have been known to class employees as salaried exempt (as in, "exempt from overtime") in order to avoid paying OT, a ploy which can get them into big trouble with the labor board if discovered.

For more on what constitutes a salaried exempt vs. hourly non-exempt employee, and how the wage order for your industry works, visit www.dol.gov.

Answer 3

There are a few jobs that are NOT covered by overtime laws, but most are. It's not just being on salary rather than being paid hourly - there are very specific additional requirements to be exempt from FLSA, the federal law requiring overtime pay. If the person is covered by FLSA, time and a half must be paid for hours over 40 in a week. See http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/overtimepay.htm for details.

If a person is in a job where overtime pay is NOT required, and there are some, then if he's required to work those hours, he should consider looking for another job. Even if someone is getting paid overtime, those hours are not sustainable for any long time.

Answer 4

No. If you are a salaried employee, you make what you make whether you work 40 hours a week or 80 hours a week.

The federal law is you must be a salaried employee making a minimum of $23,660 a year in order to not get over time. You make that amount regardless of the amount of hours you work. It is a set rate that you agree to when you take the salaried position.

As long as you are not being paid hourly, you are not eligible to receive over time.

Answer 5

If you are exempt from overtime, then as I understand it, it would be legal for your boss to require certain tasks to be completed. They cannot directly require that you work a certain number of hours a day, but if that's what the task requires, then that's the way it is. This is how engineers are paid, and 16-hour days are not unusual in the final push before a product release. If you are not exempt (that is, it's possible to voucher overtime on a timecard or equivalent), then no, the actual hours you worked must be recorded on the time card. Ask your boss to put the request in writing, then take that to your state employment office to see if it's legit.

Answer 6

This will depends on the local labor laws and the field of employment.

In general, salaried employees do not receive overtime.

In this case, the employee should consider negotiating pay for this kind of work schedule.

Answer 7

Even if overtime is paid, which it most definately should be in this situation, an employer cannot compel a person to work overtime and there is a limit to how many hours in a 7 day period they can work. They cannot work more than x number of hours or more than x number of days in a row.

Answer 8

in the uk its illeagle, 8 hours then time and a half then after 2 hours double time per day, saterday time and a half 3 hours then double same sunday but you can claim double all the time you work after 48 hours. you can also claim back pay are take them to the tribunial, without loss of Job if they decide to sack you claim I year or Redundancy money,

Answer 9

i'm not sure about salary employee's, but if you work seven days in a pay period, then the 7th day you should get paid time-in a half.

you might want to call or look at the web site U.S. WAGES & LABOR LAWS.