I work in a hospital. In a two week payperiod I work 6 12hour shifts (last 4 hours of the 12 hours are time and a half) =72 hour pay period. Before the new law went into effect on my 7th shift of work i was time and a half. now they say we are going to the 8/80 law that would prevent us from getting overtime on the 7th shift. According to them, in order to get overtime for the whole day you would have to work in excess of 10 shift because at your 10th shift would be 80 hours of regular time because the last 4 hours of each shift are already paid. My question is does this sound right? I thought in the 8/80 law anything over 40 hours a week wheather overtime or not would be paid overtime. Thanks

There have been no new laws passed that affect how many hours can be worked before overtime is due. The law is, and has been for over 50 years, that you must be paid 1.5x for all hours worked over 40 in a week. There is no such thing as an "8/80" law.

However, it appears that your employer is paying you properly under both the old plan and the new plan, with one qualification. Remember, an employer can always pay you more than the law requires, but not less. Just because they used to pay you more than the law requires does not prevent them from changing to only pay exactly what the law requires.

In order to be entitled to overtime, you must work more than 40 regular time hours in the week or 8 hours in a day. Thus, if you work 4 12 hour shifts, and they pay you 8 straight and 4 OT each day, you have only worked 32 straight time hours. Thus, on your fifth day, they can still pay you 8 staight time hours and 4 OT hours. It would only be on your 6th day in the work week that they would have to pay you 1.5x for all hours worked.

Thus, if the employer had you work 5 days in one week and 5 days in another week, no additional overtime would be due. However, if you work 6 days in one week and 4 days in another week, the employer can not average them out. That is, the entire 6th day in the first week would need to be paid at 1.5x.

thanks for breaking it down for me.

But is a hospital allowed to change the way one particular department is paid and not the hospital as a whole?

Isn't this discrimination against the department? :( \\

thanks again

Different departments are allowed to follow different rules, as long as the rules are in compliance with the law, and no, it is not illegal discrimination.

thank you for your quick response, so sad to hear:(

I'm not certain, and not in a position to research it now, but I seem to remember some modification to FLSA within the last year that permits hospitals (and maybe some other medical providers) to establish a pay system that allows for an 80 hour pay period, with overtime to be paid only after 80 hours in the pay period. I talked briefly with a DoL type who said there were a few employers who were setting up pay periods with 80 hours in one week, and -0- in the second. No overtime.

When I get the chance, I'll try to track this down. Or did I just dream it?

No you didn't dream it, but it's been that way for a long time, at least at the federal level.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_778/29CFR778.601.htm

Thanks, Patty--

Since '81? I don't work in healthcare (thankfully!), but I sure thought I was more current than that--. I also don't do payroll anymore, so that pressure is gone, also.

And people ask why Texas doesn't have laws that address overtime payments. It's hard enough to follow the "big boys".


Hey--I just noticed that with this post, I am now 'Senior'. It's about damned time somebody called me something other than old. I'll demand more respect from here out. I wonder if I'll get it?