Working 7 days a week? -Ohio

[ahbaker]

I work production in a factory and I have not received a day off since Sunday, July 12.

Upper management has already told us we will be working 7 days a week throughout August.

In addition, there are several 12 and 16 hour "mandatory" overtime shifts ahead in the next week.

My question is, we seem to be overworked and my union rep says we will be written up if we refuse to work overtime. Are there any laws in place actually in the employee's favor, here? Being forced to work a minimum of 6 weeks without a day off seems rather inhumane.

[cbg]

I agree with you but there are no Federal laws limiting the number of hours an employee can be required to work and Ohio is not one of the few states that has a one-day-off-in-seven rule; nor is it one of only two states that limits the amount of overtime an employer can require an employee to work in a week/pay period. As far as both Federal and Ohio law goes (and a good many other states as well, unfortunately) you could be required to work 365 days a year and it would be legal.*

No state has any laws limiting the number of hours an employee can be required to work in a day.*

So the law is not going to help you, unfortunately. Any assistance will be found in your union contract.


*There are some industry specific exceptions but they are found generally in jobs where there is a public safety factor; long haul trucking, airline pilots. There are also exceptions for minors in some states.