Hi - my husband seems to be getting 'shafted' at work and I'm trying to find out if his treatment is legal or not.
He is the Site Supervisor in a security company, and to this date [been in the position at least 6 mo. after promotion from regular security officer] has not signed a contract in the new position. He is paid hourly and often works more than 40 hr weeks - sometimes as much as 64 hrs in a week. For any hours worked by him, whether it falls within the 40hrs or over, he is paid at regular rate.
As a supervisor, his function is not only to DO the work, but to be held responsible for the work of the officers on site. But he does not have the 'power' to hire staff - or fire them if nessesary.
The site is very short staffed - and he is always being called in to 'cover' for someone who has called out.
Last night he was called at 10pm - we had only just got into bed a short while before- and informed that he was required to 'cover' a shift for someone else who had called out. He managed to find someone to cover for him, but the issue was only resolved around midnight after multiple phone calls. We had barely got to sleep [about 1:30am] when he was again called to cover for someone who had not showed for work. He got half-way to work when he was called to say that he was no longer needed so he turned around and came home. by the time he came in he was unable to get back to sleep and in total got around 2 hrs. Today he was in at 8am, and he is being expected to stay until 12pm tonight and tomorrow they want him in from 8am to 8pm. his regular scheduled shift is 8am to 4pm.
And for all this he is not compensated for the time on all the calls last night, and does not get OT pay. He is exhausted and needs sleep and they are making him stay!

How can this be right??????????
Someone please help me figure this out.... we are really at the end of our tether. It is an ongoing problem with this being only one example of similar treatment. :mad:

How many people does he supervise?

Even though he may not have the authority to hire and fire an employee, are his suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring, firing, advancement, promotion or any other change of status of those employees given particular weight?

How much of his time is spent doing "managerial" duty (ie. directing employees) or is he primarily occupied with performing the services of a security officer?

Is he really the "Site Supervisor", and what does that entail? Or are the people who "call him in" truly running the show over there?

Does he log the hours he spends trying to find replacements as "hours worked"?

What is his pay rate? The "Executive" exemption requires a salary level of $455 per week.

First let me ask... Are his paychecks always for the same amount? Does he clock in and out for shifts?

You say that he is paid hourly, if that be the case then his company not paying overtime is illegal. (thats why I asked the above questions)

It sounds to me that his company has exempted him. Under what exempt class I could not tell you, not knowing his duties.

As a security officer, (supervisor) is he licensed to, and does he carry a firearm? Have to drive a vehicle?
This may speak to some safety issues with the hours of work he currently has.

Right now he supervises 20 people but there should be more - they are short staffed right now.
He dosen't have the right to hire or fire employees but his suggestions are welcome, but don't necessarily carry 'weight'.
He is primarily occupied with performing the services of a security officer, and his basic job description is a basic security officer with added responsibility of doing payroll and schedules.
No he dosen't clock in but does have to call in to the Operations control center to say he has arrived..
He is the site supervisor in that he is the 'account manager' for the site. But the operations control center is exactly that... operations control, and they are the 'eye' that watches over all the sites the company has.
He does not log the hours spent on the phone trying to find replacements for folks that have called out.
His pay rate is a flat $17 per hour - regardless of number of hours, unless he works on what is one of their scheduled holidays, i.e. Christmas Day, Columbus Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, even President's day - then he gets time and a half - but only on these days, and he may not volunteer for these days - he may only work if there is no other available options on that particular day.
He is not licensed to carry a firearm and does not, but is occationally required to use his personal vehicle to deliver items that have been left behind by drivers. He is reimbursed milage - but reimbursement checks have sometimes taken 6 weeks to arrive.
He does not work the same amount of hours every week - although he has a set 'schedule' that he is supposed to work... inevitably this always changes based on what's needed at the site. So his paychecks are not the same every week. He is paid for the amount of hours he has worked that particular week. One strange thing they do though, is that usually they send him 2 seperate checks. One for the 40 hours he is scheduled to work, and one for anything additional. the additional check is at his regular pay rate, but without deductions. It messed with our tax filing this year because they only deduct on his 40 hr check and not the other, so once combined - we weren't paying in enough tax and had to pay in.


I hope I have answered all the questions you have asked - please let me know if there is anything additional that I can offer that I may have ommitted.
Thank You for your replies and attempts to assist me in getting this resolved.

His company has him as an exempt employee. I don't understand the extra check. On the stub, what explanation is there for the amount?
Does it say bonus, or regular, or salary, etc? I dont believe the extra money puts his exempt status in jeapordy.

However the check is coded, there should be income taxes coming out, and even if he claims tax exempt (not saying that is the case though), ss and medicare needs to come out at a minimum. If his company is reporting wages as income for w-2, which they are if you had a substantial underpayment, then taxes must be witheld. Has he asked why no taxes are taken?

Other than that, he can be made to work any number of hours and his salary will remain the same. He must make a minimum salary of $455 per week, in addition to the duties test, to have an administrative exemption (which is what I think he is probably classified as).

Find out about the tax situation.

Although I agree that his company is classifying him as an exempt employee, they may not be correct. If they are correct, then he isn't entitled to any overtime. If they aren't, then he should be getting time and a half.

In any case, he should be keeping good track of his time, so that if he is ultimately found entitled to the overtime pay, he'll have good records to prove the amount.

Because he supervises 20 people, carries the title "Supervisor" and is "responsible" for the site (which is arguably a company "subdivision"), the knee jerk reaction is to agree with their classification.

But, if his hiring/firing suggestions don't carry much weight, then how much "direction" over the employees does he really have. Also, if the "Operations Center" really does the bulk of the "management" work and much of his time is spent actually doing the basic security work, then is "Management" truly his "primary duty" under the law. If either one of these tests fails, then he is improperly classified as "exempt" and is entitled to overtime.