Mandatory Overtime

[Village Idiot]

What is the name of your state? WI, but I work in IL

My employer is requiring mandatory overtime shifts of 12 hours per weekday plus 8 hours on Saturday. Because some of us only have one or even no dependents the overtime pay ends up being more tax money. After too many hours of overtime we may be working for practically $20 for an 8 hour shift after taxes. Management is all exempt so they are not required to work overtime and don't want to work for free, but it turns out that most of us end up killing ourselves for so little with so many hours. I was working two jobs and had to cut down to simply this one, and now I make less money because of all the taxes taken out! Is there anything we can do? Can we request that the employer provide us with two checks? One for regular earnings and one for overtime pay, so that we're not killing ourselves and getting very little in return? They're also threatening to start with Sunday overtime required. Is this legal? What are the break requirements for a twelve hour shift?

 

[cbg]

Since the work you are doing is done in IL, IL law applies here.

Mandatory OT is permissable; however, IL law requires that you have 24 hours of rest out of every calendar week. It does NOT have to be the same day each week so you can end up working more than 7 days in a row. For example, if you have Sunday off week one and Saturday off week two you can actually work 12 days in a row; however, you have had 24 hours rest in each calendar week so they have complied with the law.

If you are working 7.5 hours in a day or more, you are entitled to a 20 minute unpaid break. There are no special requirements for 12 hours shifts. Any breaks over and above this are at the company's discretion.

You may request two checks but they are not under any legal obligation to comply.

 

[Village Idiot]

Holiday Pay

Last week there was mandatory overtime for 3 days and two holiday days. Thus people worked for 36 hours plus received two days of holiday regular pay. Are holiday hours overtime exempt? People ended up with 52 hour checks but all at regular earnings.

Also, my supervisor just turned it his two week notice, and word is that I'm next in line for the job. Can I be forced to take a supervisor job and salaried pay if I don't want the position? In the past this company has pushes it onto people as well as force people to switch shifts within simply a one day notice. Most people do it simply because they can't afford to lose their jobs, but are very unhappy and they aren't allowed to switch back to their shifts even if there is another person willing and wanting to switch. If I take the position, how is a salaried individual affected by mandatory overtime since they are not paid overtime wages past 40 hours or can I demand higher wages to compensate for overtime which may or may not be required? The company claims they can't fortell how long it will be required, maybe January, maybe May....

 

[Beth3]

Yes, the company can insist you take the supervisor position. If they wish to, they can terminate you if you refuse. That would probably be a foolish move on their part as then they'd lose a trained employee so let's hope that doesn't happen.

Being exempt has no bearing on the number of hours you can work. The laws in that regard at the same for both exempt and non-exempt employees. The only difference is that exempt employees aren't required to be paid for OT.

As far as your tax situation goes, every payroll system I've encountered calculates taxes based on set pay periods. In other words, the system "assumes" that whatever wages you earn for a particular week is reflected of your annual income and calculates taxes to make sure you are sufficiently withheld. If you usually earn, say, $500/week, the payroll system calculates $500 x 52 weeks and calculates taxes that week on an annual income of $26,000. If you have a week where you earn $1,000 because of lots of OT, the system calculates taxes for that week based on an annual income of $52,000. ($1,000 x 52 weeks.) That's why you take such a huge tax bite on your paycheck for weeks where you work a lot of OT.

The good news is that you will get all excessive state and federal taxes back when you file your tax return. Perhaps you've noticed that in years where you work more OT, your refund is greater. That's why.