Made to work longer hours?

I am employed in Missouri.

I have been at my company for 2.5 years and I accepted employment for a 7.5 hour day with no lunch time. I have done this with all my jobs over the last 15 years as I run a small non-profit organization where we take in homeless dogs and finds homes for them. Having animals to tend to requires me to be home as soon as possible to let them out to potty any many are sick and need care.

Rumor is in January they are going to require us to take a 1 hour lunch, and bump us up to an 8 hour or 8.5 hour day. This would add 1.5 to 2 hours to the length of my day (even more as it would also put me in worse traffic) and put me home too late to keep up with the dogs properly. I live alone and have no one else to rely on to tend to the animals. I would even sign a waver saying I agree to take no lunch in order to get home sooner.

I know they don't care about the pets but my question is this:

1. since I accepted employment for 7.5 hours and no lunch,

a. how much lunch time can they make me take?

b. how many hours can they extend my day?

I have also seen a trend within the company to lay people off and just disperse the work to other peoples desks with no additional compensation only more work with longer hours.

I will be willing to compromise some to keep my job, I would be willing to add one half to possibly one hour to keep my job but more that that and I would rather not have the job and be on unemployment pay.

My second question is:

2. If they extend my requirement to be there 2-3 hours or more longer in the day and I just go home before the required time will I be eligible for unemployment pay?

I am willing to do some more time but with this company I don't think the time will be a bit I think they have a trend to keep piling on the work and extending hours. I really would rather be on unemployment and start over looking for a job.

I would also be OK with working the extra hours from home as I have a good computer with all the programs necessary but they say they are not going to allow that for some reason.

One more question, the last place I work was a similar type place, (publishing), a bunch of editors and graphic designers. We were all salaried workers at first. Long story short, some one raised an issue and by law the determination was made that we really were all supposed to be classified as hourly workers. The company had to make us hourly workers and and pay over time. They even had to pay overtime on hours worked for the previous 2 years. Since this is the same type place with the same type workers could they be forced to make us hourly people and pay over time for all this extended hours?

Thanks for any advice,

Kim

1. since I accepted employment for 7.5 hours and no lunch,

a. how much lunch time can they make me take?

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well, since there are only 24 hours in a a day, that would be limited to 24 hours per day.

b. how many hours can they extend my day?

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again, since there are only 24 hours in a day, that would be limited to 24 hours.

I have also seen a trend within the company to lay people off and just disperse the work to other peoples desks with no additional compensation only more work with longer hours.

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unless you have a contract stating what your duties are or how much work you must perform, there is nothin illegal about increasing your workload.

I will be willing to compromise some to keep my job, I would be willing to add one half to possibly one hour to keep my job but more that that and I would rather not have the job and be on unemployment pay.

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then I guess you should start looking to time off.

My second question is:

2. If they extend my requirement to be there 2-3 hours or more longer in the day and I just go home before the required time will I be eligible for unemployment pay?

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Nope

I am willing to do some more time but with this company I don't think the time will be a bit I think they have a trend to keep piling on the work and extending hours. I really would rather be on unemployment and start over looking for a job.

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sounds like you may get your wish

I would also be OK with working the extra hours from home as I have a good computer with all the programs necessary but they say they are not going to allow that for some reason.

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their choice

One more question, the last place I work was a similar type place, (publishing), a bunch of editors and graphic designers. We were all salaried workers at first. Long story short, some one raised an issue and by law the determination was made that we really were all supposed to be classified as hourly workers. The company had to make us hourly workers and and pay over time. They even had to pay overtime on hours worked for the previous 2 years. Since this is the same type place with the same type workers could they be forced to make us hourly people and pay over time for all this extended hours?

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anybody can be salaried. What matters is the classification of exempt or non-exempt. If you are non-exempt, you must be paid 1 1/2 (minimum) rate for any time worked over 40 hours. If you are salaried, that calc gets a bit drawn out to explain but it is based upon a "standard" work week and the pay for that work week.

Unless you have a bona fide contract or CBA that specifically says otherwise, your employer may change your hours and extend your workload in any way he sees fit.

Your dogs are interfering with your ability to manage your life. Get rid of them before you lose the job and can't feed them, either. That's what the humane society is for.

Nice sentiment about just dumping my dogs

Nice sentiment about just dumping my dogs at the Humane Society to solve the problem. Both of my dogs are over 10 years old and would be euthanized by end of the day if I turned them in. Shelters are so overwhelmed with pet overpopulation that they usually euthanize dogs when they come in if they are over 7 years old.

My 12 year old dog is a service dog and has worked many years to bring happiness to people over the years visiting nursing homes. And I should just drop him off to be killed? Real nice.

I hope someone abandons you in your old age just because you don't fit their schedule any more. You sound like a very cold hearted person.

I would loose my job before I would have my dogs killed.

Either way, your boss decides the hours that you work and whether or not you are required to take a lunch break.

As far as qualifying for unemployment benefits, your state's webpage is:

Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

I have the same problem with my dogs that you do. What I do is to pay my neighbor to look in on my dogs around lunchtime.

Take the 1.5 to 2 hours extra. Use that money to hire a neighborhood kid to walk the dogs for you. You have ample time to find a "walker", you keep your job, and you give a kid a chance to earn some pride and responsibility along with some spending money. Everything works out perfect. The world is rosy again.

I won't be paid for the extra time that I have to stay and job pays low to start with. My dogs are somewhat quirk in personality as they are rescued from bad conditions so kids or most people would find them difficult to walk. They are my precious babies though.

Not sure what I will do, I have coyotes roaming the woods behind my house so leaving them out all day is out.

I guess I am just old-fashioned. If you make an oral agreement you should stick to it. I accepted the job position for certain pay for certain hours. To change it after that fact for corporate greed just irks me.

I know it is legal for them to do what they please. It has already and will continue to create an atmosphere of resentment toward the company from the employees I am not sure they will be happy with the level of productivity and quality of work in the end.

why won't you be paid for the extra time? If the pay is that low, it sounds like you would not fit any possible exemption status that allows an employer to not pay overtime. Your employer is required to pay you for all the time you work.

Maybe explain a bit and it will make sense.

I am a salaried person. I make $30,000. My last job was $40,000 and the job requirements were actually less. They are getting a good deal with my skills at my salary no matter how you slice it. I did accept the job at that pay, because of lack of opportunities, so that is that but they are getting a good deal. I am a graphic designer and I went up the ladder for years making more money and better jobs, all was well. I have been at this 20 years and have a college degree.

But I got laid off about 3 years ago from a job because my immediate boss (Andy) and the boss above him (Steve) hated each other. The big boss laid off Andy and several people, myself included, to punish Andy. He did it under the guise of saving the association money.

Now that I am older, 47, my industry, graphic design really only wants to hire the kids out of school as they will work for less. Also in my industry there is a school of thought that the kids know much more about technology and have designs that are more "hip". Well...I can't become younger. But I have kept up with technology far more than the other graphic designers my age and can produce a graphic design style that is comparable to the "kids" in my opinion.

Employers see my resume and the 20 years of experience and I don't even get a call, because of above reasons. Neither do other designers of my age and experience.

So I had to accept the low paying job after the lay off a couple of years ago. I live alone and run an animal shelter out of my home which is an expense that I have accepted in order to help the homeless pets. So money is tight.

So that is where I am at now, low paying job, changing industry that is hard to get a good job in. Frustrating to say the least. I have always done the right thing. Went to college, worked hard, got great reviews, I have always been complimented for my going over and above in the work place and complimented on being nice to work with.

I do question why I am salaried to start with though, the last place I work was a similar type place, (publishing), it is a bunch of editors and graphic designers. We were all salaried workers at first. Long story short, some one raised an issue and by law the determination was made that we really were all supposed to be classified as hourly workers. The company had to make us hourly workers and and pay over time. It must have been a Missouri law because the company really didn't want to reclassify us they were forced to for some reason that I can't remember. They even had to pay overtime on hours worked for the previous 2 years, which cost thousands of dollars. Since this is the same type place with the same type workers could they be forced to make us hourly people and pay over time for all this extended hours? The only difference I can see is that my last place was a non-profit organization and where I work now is a for profit business.

I don't understand what makes a person hourly or salaried, is it just the whim of the business to decide or are there rules.

I have always gladly treated people in my life fairly and when I don't get that respect back it just bothers me. I just want the job I signed on for, no more no less.

anybody can be salaried. A plumber can be salaried.

what makes a difference is: are you exempt or non-exempt?

here is the DOL page on exempt or not:

U.S. Department of Labor — Employment Standards Administration (ESA) — Wage and Hour Division (WHD) — FairPay

read through there and try to determine if you are exempt or not. If you aren;t, you are to be paid overtime over 40 hours. If I understand what you have said, you may be exempt under the creative professional exemption. If so, then you are correct about not recieving any additional pay.

Go to the web site for the US DOL and search for the requirements for exempt workers.