I have worked for a small company for over the last five years. During this time, I have worked MANY, MANY hours of overtime (60 to 70 hours a week) but I have NEVER been paid ANY overtime whatsoever. I have been told countless times by others that I am being taken advantage of. I would like to know if there a law requiring that Florida employers pay overtime to their employees? My boss says there is not.

Also, during the last few months, my work has been cut down from 60 to 70 hours a week to anywhere from 5 to 20 hours a week (if I'm lucky). I cannot survive on this pay. Sometimes I think I'd be better off if he just laid me off or fired me. My question to you is if my boss were to lay me off or fire me (because of the lack of work available), would I be entitled to unemployment compensation? Also, if I am, does it adversely affect my employer? In other words, does it cost my employer for me to collect unemployment compensation, once he has laid me off or fired me?

Thank you for your help.

~Gypsy

Assuming you are a nonexempt employee (generally speaking, paid hourly), your boss is partially right, but completely wrong. Florida does not have an overtime law, but the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does, and all states must adhere to the FLSA, at least.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs23.htm

If you are due overtime pay, you'd better file quickly with the federal Dept. of Labor, as you only have 2 years to file (3 years if the violations are deemed "willful"). Florida does not have an overtime law of its own, so there is nothing for the state to enforce. Your only other option is a civil suit, which might be worth it, as the federal DOL only enforces overtime pay to the extent of minimum wage.

Of course, if you are an exempt employee, overtime is not applicable.

If you are terminated because of lack of work, it is likely you will get UI benefits which, btw, are funded by employer contributions. Depending on the employer's "experience rating", which is based on how many claims are chargeable to the employer during the based period, the amount of those claims, etc., the employer's contribution rate may increase in the future. That's not your problem, though.

Thank you so much for answering me so quickly. I am paid by the hour, so I think this definately applies to me.
I was wondering if you had an answer to my second question.....
If my boss were to lay me off or fire me because of a lack of work available and I were to collect unemployment compensation because of this, would it adversely affect his business? Does it cost him anything?

Thanks Again for all your help.
~Gypsy

See my last paragraph. It MAY increase his tax contribution rate, but we would have no way of knowing by how much. It would depend on his turnover rate, how many former employees are collecting benefits chargeable to that employer, how much they're collecting, etc. But, here's the thing. If you resign, it's very hard to get UI benefits; therefore, it may save him money, but you'll get nothing.