Is it legal to force someone to stay on the job after their shift and only pay them OT at straight time?

Question

I work in the airline biz and from time to time we are short of help, sometime people are told to stay "on the job", even if thier respective shift has ended.

Since I am part time and work a 5 hour day, I have to work 3 more hours of 1.0 OT till I get to 8 hours then it goes to 1.5 OT. This seems unfair that I am told to stay, but get payed at my straight time.

We have 2 books also on employee conduct.

The 1st book says that "if leaving would adversely affect operations, you should do the right thing and stay on the job."

The other states that "if operations would be affected by your leaving, it is expected that you would stay on the job until such time as management has cleared you to leave"

Can they really force someone to stay on the job under these circumstancesand not get paid 1.5 OT, why or why not?

Answer 1

No one can "force" you to stay on the job, that is your choice. However, if they ask and you decide to leave they could decide to fire you. Because they may feel you did not follow the employee guidelines and are not a "team" player.



Now, as for overtime, unless you have a contract that states otherwise you are not entitled to overtime until you have gone over 8 hours for the day or 40 hours for the week. In your case it sounds as if they are doing as they should.

Answer 2

I'm assuming you are in the US - if not, laws might be different.



In the US, the federal legal requirement for overtime pay is time and a half after 40 hours a WEEK. So if they're paying you overtime after 8 hours a day, they are doing MORE than they are required to do.



There might be a couple states where they are required to pay overtime after 8 hours - but even then, they're doing what they are required to do.



You can't be forced to stay over - you can always quit and find another job where the rules are more to your liking.

Answer 3

You are a part time worker. You do not get OT until AFTER you have worked 40 hours for the week.



If the handbooks says you must stay on the job until management says you can go - then thats what you do.



Or you can quit the job.

Answer 4

They do have an awful law over here in the uk which entitles them to drag their heels for up to 6weeks but in the end they are bound under law to pay you. You must make sure all relevant paperwork is filled out giving your tax code and national insurance number so they can make the relevant contributions. If they aren't paying you- they are not paying the tax man either and this means they are committing fraud- I'd personally notify your tax office of this as they may feel you were one of these people trying to work illegally- cash in hand and think they can get away with their actions- once they have all your details they may still drag their heels but they do have an obligation to pay you. visit the tax office website and ask someone to investigate and I'm pretty sure they will get the pub on some sort of fiddling because they haven't asked you for your tax codes etc- this means they had no intent on paying tax for you- IN MY OPINION!

Answer 5

Yes, it is legal. Time and a half overtime pay applies only when you exceed 40 hours per week: http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs23.htm