Overtime Pay is not time and a half, same as normal rate

[driverjeff]

Hi,

My girlfriend is an hourly employee working on an H1B Visa for a nonprofit medical foundation as a research coordinator. She has recenlty had heart surgery and her boss continues to require that she work overtime in the upwards of 80 to 90 hours a week. She wasn't clocking it until I told her she had to. She's now at least getting paid for it but not time and a half. Can she be required to work this much overtime and is it leagl to not pay time and a half for overtime hours for non exempt workers? I think she's being taken advantage of because they know she's afraid to loser her H1B status.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by driverjeff

Hi,

My girlfriend is an hourly employee working on an H1B Visa for a nonprofit medical foundation as a research coordinator. She has recenlty had heart surgery and her boss continues to require that she work overtime in the upwards of 80 to 90 hours a week. She wasn't clocking it until I told her she had to. She's now at least getting paid for it but not time and a half. Can she be required to work this much overtime and is it leagl to not pay time and a half for overtime hours for non exempt workers? I think she's being taken advantage of because they know she's afraid to loser her H1B status.

Is she a salaried worker/and or manager? If so, overtime pay is not required.
If she is hourly/non managment worker, then overtime pay of 1.5 times the normal rate is required after 40 hours per week.

An empoyee can not require more than 4 hours per day overtime.

[BrokeChick]

Originally Posted by Sue

Is she a salaried worker/and or manager? If so, overtime pay is not required.
If she is hourly/non managment worker, then overtime pay of 1.5 times the normal rate is required after 40 hours per week.

An empoyee can not require more than 4 hours per day overtime.

I am wondering if Sue understood the question. He said the girlfriend was salaried, but not a manager. How many hours is too many? And when she does get paid, it's at her regular rate of pay. It sounds like employers own you if you're salaried. I am in a similiar predicament. What is fair compensation for doing work above and beyond your job description? I'm not talking about staying late to meet a deadline. I'm talking about EXTRA hours/work not required but worked nonetheless. Do you understand? Does anybody? Should a salaried employee refuse to work anything over normal hours or job duties? I'm not thrilled to hear you say that an employer can ask for an additonal 40-50 hrs a week just because that person is on salary. That would drop a workers pay below minimum wage theoretically.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by BrokeChick

I am wondering if Sue understood the question. He said the girlfriend was salaried, but not a manager. How many hours is too many? And when she does get paid, it's at her regular rate of pay. It sounds like employers own you if you're salaried. I am in a similiar predicament. What is fair compensation for doing work above and beyond your job description? I'm not talking about staying late to meet a deadline. I'm talking about EXTRA hours/work not required but worked nonetheless. Do you understand? Does anybody? Should a salaried employee refuse to work anything over normal hours or job duties? I'm not thrilled to hear you say that an employer can ask for an additonal 40-50 hrs a week just because that person is on salary. That would drop a workers pay below minimum wage theoretically.

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Hi there. Sorry for the confusion. My response was actually to another thread and I don't know how it ended up with your question. I do apolozgize for that.

In any case, the law states you must be paid overtime rate of 1.5 normal salary for any hours worked over 40 in each work week.

Again, I aplogize for the misunderstanding.

Sue

[LConnell]

Hi. I wanted to add a few points. A "salaried" status does not exempt a person from being owed overtime. Overtime must be paid to someone who is non-exempt (not exempted from coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act).

The requirement to work overtime will vary from state to state. While some states are more restrictive than others, many states do not place a restriction on the number of overtime hours an employee may be required to work.

Theoreticaly, there is no minimum or maximum time standard for a person who is "exempt". The reason is this...an exempt employee is paid for the responsibility, rather for the number of hours at work. If a position is exempt under the law, the employer can require that the person stay at work for an unlimited number of hours. The employer can also dictate that employees come to work at a certain time and leave at a certain time. If, however, the employer begins to dock hours of a day (such as when the exempt employee must go to the dentist), the employer is putting the exempt status in jeopardy.

I had a senior management job where I was expected to work 70 to 80 hours each week, at a minimum. This was not illegal. However, I decided that I din't want that working condition so I left.

I hope this helps clarify the issue for you. Let us know if you need additional information.

[Sue]

Broke chick wrote:
"I am wondering if Sue understood the question. He said the girlfriend was salaried, but not a manager."
--

Hi BrokeChick,
Yes I did understand the question, and what I see that he wrote is that "My girlfriend is an hourly employee working on an H1B Visa for a nonprofit medical foundation as a research coordinator..." do you see the same that I see, there could be a glitch?

As far as my response, I get automated emails to these threads to help answer them more quickly and somehow my answer to an entirely different question wound up in this thread! I do apologize for that

Sue