<<<<EXAMPLE: They call me in early to start working at noon. (3 1/2 hours early) They need me to work through my regular shift which is up to 11:30 p.m. Can they now have the power to send me on a 3 1/2 hour lunch break so they don't have to pay me overtime?????>>>>

The question is...... can management extend my lunch time to avoid paying for the overtime that would be earned on that day????

I work for a news station as a videographer. I occupy a full-time position, paid by the hour. We have to work overtime until we can either be properly relieved, or until the assignment is complete. We are paid up to the moment we get back to the station after our live shot, and are done turning in our equipment.

(correct me if I am legally wrong in anything I say, PLEASE):

All shifts are 9 hours long (8 hours work; 1 hour "mandatory" break) Mandatory break only if story permits. If not, we must call in for approval from the manager on-call.

Night shift (my shift)is from 3:30 p.m. til 11:30 p.m. (8 HOURS A DAY, 5 DAYS A WEEK). That's exactly 40 hours a week. The way I see it, a lunch break has not been calculated into my shift.......which means I don't have to take one. Nobody has told me I have to take one either, UNTIL NOW.

My station is trying to cut back on the overtime. Only previously approved overtime will be paid. But I was told that if I thought I would need overtime, I was to take a lunch hour to compensate for the overtime after the live shot.

Basically, I would only get a lunch hour the days I thought I was going to end up with overtime at the end of the night. But on weeks that I don't get overtime, I don't get a lunch hour????

I also stated that if I took an hour lunch every day I would be underpaid, because I would have only worked 35 hours at the end of the week. The manager stated that if I was underpaid at the end of the week, they would pay me the full 40 hours anyway.

That would be fine. The only problem is that it leaves them with the power to do what they want with my shift, and not pay for the extra time taken out of my day!!!

EXAMPLE: They call me in early to start working at noon. (3 1/2 hours early) They need me to work through my regular shift which is up to 11:30 p.m. Can they now have the power to send me on a 3 1/2 hour lunch break so they don't have to pay me overtime?????

I stated to the manager that I would follow his orders until the situation was clarrified with finance. I'm pretty sure they will back up management because this overtime effort is being enforced through the whole corporation.

Maybe my particular company is the one who has it wrong. Maybe I'm the one who is wrong, but I will be taking this up with management.

So I am here looking for some ammo to take up against management. Please help me.

Neither federal law nor Florida law requires meal breaks, so if you don't get them, that isn't a violation of any applicable law.

Regarding overtime, however, generally speaking, you must be paid for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, whether it's pre-approved or not. If you aren't getting that, contact the federal Dept. of Labor to file a claim (Florida doesn't have any overtime laws of its own, so it can't be a state claim).

Having said that, the employer can discipline you for not taking the meal break, and subsequently working overtime without pre-approval, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as they are contradicting themselves. First, they want you to take a lunch. Then they want you to stay on the story. Guess the biggest thing is the approval. Talk to your supervisor and ask him/her how to get pre-approved when you're working a hot story.

Exciting job, I'll bet.