I work at an automotive shop in SD. I am paid hourly at 45 hours per week. Thay have no time clock or any way of keeping track of hours, you just get your check on Friday. This sounds nice but I get paid hourly at 45 hours a week and no overtime for the 5 hours. I also put in around 50-60 hours a week unless I have a reason to need a day off which if very seldom, then they say its vacation pay or sick pay, and even with the day off I get in 45 hours that week. I work in the office but that shouldn't matter, cause if I work the hours I should be paid for them. Also shouldn't the be keeping track of the hours their employees work, cause everyone there is paid hourly but they don't keep track of actual hours?? If I were to confront them about this issue and I end up quitting cause I'm not getting paid for the time I work is there anything I can do about it. I like the job but this is getting old.

Assuming your employer is subject to the FLSA (and it's almost impossible for them not to be), yes, you must be paid for all hours you work, and yes, you must receive overtime pay if you actually work over 40 hours in the workweek. It is also a violation of the FLSA recordkeeping requirements for the employer not to have a record of your hours.

You can file a claim for unpaid wages with the state Dept. of Labor.

Just what do you do in the office?

I ask, because it is possible that you are considered to be "exempt," in which case you don't get overtime.

If you cannot be classified exempt, than what Patty said stands.

ScottB, she said she was paid hourly, so I assumed nonexempt. Unless she qualifies under the Computer Professional classification. :(

Oh, and BTW, folks, I do like Scott; I'm not picking on him.

ScottB, she said she was paid hourly, so I assumed nonexempt.

But she also said 45 hours a week, leading me to believe that she is salaried, possibly exempt, but knows what her hourly rate of pay would be if divided by 45.

I am allowing for the possibility of an administrative exemption, since the alternative is that the company is in big time violation of FLSA by not keeping a daily record of hours worked and by not paying overtime when worked.

Of course, I should have read further down and seen that the company pays everyone hourly and tracks the hours on no one. Oh, not good.

Oh, and BTW, folks, I do like Scott; I'm not picking on him.

Yes, you are, but that is fine -- sometimes I don't absorb all the facts and could make a incorrect statement.

Actually on my paycheck it says (straight time 45 hours at the specified dollar amount).. I asked the owner and said I need to know for my taxes if I am hourly or weekly salary and he said hourly., not that I need to know for taxes or anything but just wanted to know. But no there are no exact records of what everyone there works, they just get a 40 hour paycheck.

My answer remains the same.