My work is forcing everyone to work a mandatory 6th day. (They ask, we say no, and they schedule us for six days anyways.) Is this legal? Do they need our permission for overtime? Many of us are tired of working a sixth day and were wondering about our rights.

In California, the only people who can refuse to work overtime and not be subject to discipline are people employed in AmeriCorps.

Provided that the employer pays all required overtime, she can require as much overtime as she can pay for.

There are also other industries regulated at the state and federal level for maximum hours worked, for example, truck drivers and airplane pilots, but that is likely not the case here.

Wow, I didn't know that!

So if an employer schedules an employee to work a 6th day, and the employee can not due to a conflict or previous commitment, the employer can take disciplinary action against the employee?

Yes, they can. A reasonable employer would take into consideration how much notice was given, how often person is asked to work overtime (and how often they agreed/refused) before taking such action. However, not all employers are reasonable. :(

I work in a nursing home in california and i work the night shift full time 40+ hrs per week we have mandatory meetings on my day off usually following a night when I work. the meetings are held in mid afternoon when I am usually asleep. can my employer require me to attend these meetings? :)







In California, the only people who can refuse to work overtime and not be subject to discipline are people employed in AmeriCorps.

Provided that the employer pays all required overtime, she can require as much overtime as she can pay for.

There are also other industries regulated at the state and federal level for maximum hours worked, for example, truck drivers and airplane pilots, but that is likely not the case here.

Yes, they can. Mandatory meetings, which every industry has once in a while, have to be held SOMETIME, and when you're in a 24/7/365 environment, that means SOMEBODY is going to have to come in on their off time. It's as likely to be you as anyone.

The only thing I will add is that they do need to pay you the minimum reporting time pay. In California, you are entitled to 1/2 of your regularly scheduled day, up to 4 hours, but not less than 2 for reporting to work. Thus, if you normally work 8+ hours on a work day, then when required to come in for training or any other meeting, they need to pay you 4 hours of work, even if the meeting only lasts 1 hour. If the meeting is more than 4 hours, then they need to pay you for the actual time.

Of course, the time you actually are at the meeting must be paid overtime if it is over 40 hours in a week as well. And any time for training counts towards the 40 hours before overtime for regular working hours.

Michael - I thought reporting time only had to be paid if the actual time in the meeting was less than the expected time; i.e., if she came into the meeting KNOWING that it was only going to be for one hour, then only one hour would need to be paid, whereas if she came in expecting the meeting to last two hours but it only lasted one, THEN they would need to pay four hours reporting time. That's how it is in my state; is CA really that different? :confused:

Yes, California really is that different. First, there are really two pieces the the California law. The first one is fairly simple and it is that days worked require at least 2 hours of pay (note: there are exceptions for on-call and other types of work). Thus, even if you schedule only 1 hour and everyone knows about it, you still need to pay 2.

The second part to the law, and this is where California is very different, is that in California, the hours for reporting time are based on the employee's "regular schedule." That is, if the employer schedules you M-F 8-5 and Sat 10-12, and you work this every week, then your "regular schedule" for Sat is only 2 hours. Thus, if you show up on Sat, you are required to be paid for only 2 hours (no penalty). However, if they schedule you only 1 hour on Saturday, and you work that every Saturday, then you are below the 2 hour minimum and are required to be paid 2 hours.

Where the penalties really kick in is when you the day is not part of your "regular schedule." Thus, if you normally just work M-F 8-5 and have weekends off and they ask you to come in on a day off, the reporting time pay is 4 hours, even if they schedule you in advance for only 1 or 2 hours. That is, the reporting time is based on 1/2 your "normal" work day rather than on the special weekend.

It is not certain whether schedules such as "first Saturday in the month" would be considered "regular schedules" and allow for only 2 hours pay. However, it is clear that sporatic work on days off would be based on your usual work day and require up to 4 hours pay.

I give up. I'm just going to stop answering California questions altogether and cede them over to you. :eek: :confused: :)