I work for a (very) new plastics company in north-eastern Ohio. I am a machine operator, which means I physically take the unfinished product out of the molds and finish it and pack it for shipping.

I work 40 hours a week, and my employer is making plans to change our shift's hours to 11 hour days, 5 days a week. He said we would not be receiving time-and-a-half for the extra 15 hours. I don't know how to tell if I'm somehow exempt.

I apologize if I'm making a redundant post somehow. I tried the search function, to no avail. My coworkers and I would truly appreciate any insight anybody may have for us. Thanks in advance for your time :D

You are NOT exempt, IMHO.

I have no idea what your employer is thinking.

There is a way of avoiding paying you time and a half, called the fluctuatiing work week, but you would have to be salaried for that and, without going in to a lot of details, your overtime pay is at the half time rate, since your regular pay was already taken care of with your salary.

Thanks ScottB -- And to clarify for anybody wishing to reply, I am paid an hourly wage, not salary.

Agreed with Scott. Very small employers might be exempt from the federal FLSA law (where the OT rules come from), but this is very unlikely since the company would basically not have to engage in interstate commerce, which is beyond unlikely for a manufacturing company. There are a lot of exceptions to the FLSA overtime rules, but I have never heard of a manufacturing related one.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs23.htm

So, what are you going to do now?

The company bosses may not realize that what they are planning on doing is not legal (although I cannot imagine how that would be the case). They MIGHT be receptive to facts. Go to http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17i_blue_collar.htm

Note -- it says HTM, but some idiot in the DOL decided to change everything to a .pdf.

What am I going to do now? Good question.

Most likely update my resume and find something better before I confront anybody with it. I appreciate the advice... I'm very glad that a forum like this exists. Thanks a bunch!

And as far as interstate commerce: I know that our largest customer is local. I am not sure about the handful of others. What constitutes 'commerce'? Any transaction? I could check for out-of-state addresses on invoices, bills of lading, etc. If I find nothing outside of Ohio, then what?

EDIT: One other point -- it's a plastics company. Plastics are a petroleum product, as far as I know. Would that make a difference?

You can find the rules below but it is extremely unlikely that your employer is not subject to FLSA. Something on the same likelihood as you getting abducted by a UFO in the near future. Companies who own apartment buildings using paint and other supplies manufactured out of state have been found to have "engaged in interstate commerce" as have companies who have made out of state phone calls. It is very unlikely that the machines you operate or the plastic that goes in the machine were made in your state.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs14.htm

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your opinions. This really helps. Time to get myself outta there. $400 a month in unpaid labor is a lot to me.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your opinions. This really helps. Time to get myself outta there. $400 a month in unpaid labor is a lot to me.

And although this is a time-worn cliche, it appears to apply here. It's not (just) the money, it's the principle of the thing. :)