I work for a small private for profit childcare program south of Boston, MA. The owner tells us we are "exempt". We are not salaried…we are hourly……I believe that makes us employees-at-will. Are we entitled to overtime after 40 hours? We do not have any kind of contract nor letter of agreement for employment.
Also, enrolling in 401K was cancelled without notification. Is this legal? Any recourse? MA Fair Labor Laws are not posted. Are there employee size requirements before posting? There are only 9 of us. Thank you so much

Generally speaking, the fact that you are paid hourly does make you nonexempt. To be sure, what type of work do you do? BTW, just as a point of clarification,your pay method or FLSA classification has nothing to do with "at-will" employment. Every employee is "at-will" in your state (and every other, except Montana, and even there, in certain situations) unless they have a valid, enforceable employment contract stating otherwise.

For the posters and 401(K), I will defer to our Massachusetts gurus.

I'll have to look into the posters issue, but even if there is a violation that does not provide you with any legal recourse.

I don't understand what you mean by 401k enrollment cancelled. Please clarify.

Thank you both so much for the information you are sharing.

The work we provide is working with children between the ages of 3 months through 5+ years. (like nursery school or day care). There are 4 classrooms. I teach a mixed Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten class. We are licensed and regulated by the Early Education and Care (EEC) state agency. Our educational backgrounds range from no experience nor formal courses (assistants) to teachers who have one course in Child Growth and Development and a required number of months in the classroom (therefore considered teachers by EEC) to 2 senior Lead Teachers with degrees in Early Childhood Education. No one gets paid overtime for hours worked over 40

RE: 401K
Our personnel policies state: ”The enrollment periods for the 401K plan are January 1 and July 1. At that time each staff member must have completed and submitted a signed enrollment form. Staff who do not wish to participate must still complete a form with the designated amount listed as zero. Additional information packets will be available and distributed before each enrollment period.” When I tried to enroll I was told she ,”doesn’t do that anymore.” I and my co-workers never received anything about a change in this policy. I understand the importance of planning for the future and looked forward to a 401K as part of my benefits package.

I suspected the employee-at-will. Thanks for confirming my thoughts.
mamasana1

Are you saying they have cancelled the 401k plan altogether, or just changed the enrollment periods?

Cancelled altogether without notice.

It's probable that the degreed teachers would qualify as exempt under the Professional exemption and possible that other teachers could qualify as well. You can read about it here and contact the federal DOL if you have questions about your particular situation:
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17d_professional.htm

Exempt employees need never be paid any more than their regular weekly salary.