Hello,


Here is a question I have. I was an employee of a retail franchise company and after 9 months of working there they wanted to promote me to manager. I was happy for the oppourtunity and my family was happy for me too. Now before excepting this position I was making $9.35 an hour. With the manager position I was making a paltry 22k a year which I though was great at the time.

The retail store was located in PA

My hours and duties were 9AM to whenever we cashed out at the end of the day usually 9:30pm.

I averaged between 55 and 60 hours a week with 2 days off usually one weekend day and one weekday.

I think the company just took advantage of my age. I never got any benefits or PTO. How exactly is a company suppose to pay there employee's when they work such long hours?

Are they entitled to PTO? Should I have been entitled to OT even though I was salary?

I have concerns because I still have dealings with the company and they constantly pursue young people to fill these "Manager" positions.

I worked 55-60 hours a week for over 2 years, it wreaked havoc on my family.

Whether or not any of it was legal or illegal, I'm not sure it's worth getting into at this point. 10 years later, you're WAY, WAY, WAY beyond the statute of limitations to file a claim for anything.

However, generally speaking..........

How exactly is a company suppose to pay there employee's when they work such long hours?

As the manager of a distinct business operation, it is very likely that this position would qualify under the Executive exemption from overtime under the FLSA. Such exempt employees are not legally entitled to anything over and above their regular weekly salary, no matter how many hours are worked. Conversely, though, there are very limited circumstances under which an exempt employee's weekly salary can be docked.

Are they entitled to PTO?

No employer is required to offer PTO or other benefits to any employee. The only possible violation would be if your class of employees would be eligible for certain types of benefits (not all, necessarily), but the benefit was not made available to you personally. For example, if all franchise managers were eligible according to the plan for health insurance, but you were not given the opportunity to enroll. If no managers were eligible, that is not a violation of any law.

Should I have been entitled to OT even though I was salary?

See the first answer above.

55-60 hours per week is not all that unusual for exempt employees, especially the manager of a retail establishment.

I know all about the statue of limitations, my concern was for the other workers that still work there. Some of whom are my friends.

I have seen countless cycles of this and they simply burn out the employee's and then get new ones.

My business that I am in currently has alot of contact with my old company and I saw it was still happening and was concerned and thought maybe I could give some of my friends some insight before they too are burned out.

I never got any benefits or PTO. How exactly is a company suppose to pay there employee's when they work such long hours?

Are they entitled to PTO? Should I have been entitled to OT even though I was salary?


There is no requirement for a company to pay benefits or give paid time off.

Overtime applies only if you were (our your friends are) non-exempt. Quite likely you were exempt and the company could work you 168 hours a week (169 hours when in the fall when we switch from Daylight Savings to Standard time) for the exact same amount of money that you get for working 39 hours a week.