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Ovetime madness!!!

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Ecks405

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Ok I am new to this forum, but I am giving it a shot because I have seemed to exhausted all my research options and have not been able to find the answer(s) that I am looking for. So from what I understand, the Federal Law does not govern much over Overtime hours. It simply lays out a guideline regarding when you are entitled to overtime pay and how it should be paid, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). I have research as much as I could regarding any laws created though California on Overtime as well, but only found that California further defined the overtime eligibility a little as far as you get paid overtime for any hours worked passed 8 hours with the exemption of law enforcement and Fire and Rescue Services...so with that said here is the issue that I am facing as well as several other employees.

I work for a Law Enforcement Agency in the southern part of California. Within the last few years we have been plagued with a shortage of staff, do to the fact that a lot of programs have opened up that required staffing and took man power away from the main compose of the job, working the jail. Even with these new spots being opened staffing has not been increased and those empty slots that were created through the program enactment have not been filled either, since then the overtime in the department has been so outrageous that they have began to mandate people to work overtime on their days off to cover the shortage. Problem that I face as well as other Officers is that some of us sign up for several days (when I say several i mean 4 or more days) to help with this shortage, but we still get mandated to have to work even more hours. Right now our schedule is broken down so that we work five days, off two days, work two days, off five days; and our shifts are 12 hours long each working day (from 0700-1900 or 1900-0700). I have looked through all the policies and procedures that govern the facility that I work for and it summarizes as such; mandated overtime is used to cover the shortage from voluntary overtime. This is done by the supervisors at the time. Mandatory overtime may be used when no other personnel wish to sign up to cover shortages and to meet minimum staff requirements. I have also come to learn that they have implemented a inverse seniority list to go off of to mandate people to work, starting from the bottom of seniority to the most senior officer. It also states that if we are unable to work the mandatory overtime for an illness that we are eligible for subsequent mandated overtime.

I do feel that I am pretty much at a stuck end with this situation and just going to have to deal with it as it stands, but any legal information that can be provided or help to create a better working environment is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance. And please any questions or further information needed please ask away.
 


eerelations

Senior Member
I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but here are some legalities around OT and OT pay in CA:

1. What you read about CA OT is not just a definition, it's a law. It means that employers in CA are legally obliged to pay all hours worked in excess of eight in a day and 40 in a week at one-and-a-half times their employees' normal rate of pay.

2. CA law makes no distinction between mandatory and voluntary OP. All OT (mandatory and voluntary) is considered to be at the employer's behest, and all of it must be paid at the rates described above.

3. Points 1 and 2 apply only to non-exempt employees. Employers are not required to pay their exempt employees anything for working OT.

4. Employers may legally require all of their employees (exempt and non-exempt) to work unlimited amounts of OT.

I hope this is the explanation you were looking for.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
And to what appears to be the larger question;

There is nothing preventing an employer from mandating overtime and can punish an employee for refusing overtime. If you have a contract (union or individual), that could allow protections but there are none in the law itself.

In other words; you only have days off if your employer schedules you days off. It is not unlawful to disallow any days off.

Now, given this is a situation that is of public interest, there could be a means to bring the extensive hours to the public in a manner that suggests the performance of the police is jeopardized by working excessive overtime hours. That could result in a less effective police force.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Not quite unlimited. California stands not quite alone (the only other state with a limit is Maine) in that an employee cannot be discriminated against, demoted or fired for refusing to work more than 72 hours in a week. That is not to say that the employer can't ASK an employee to do more - just that if it's been more than 72 hours and the employee refuses, the employer's options are limited.
 

CTU

Meddlesome Priestess
Not quite unlimited. California stands not quite alone (the only other state with a limit is Maine) in that an employee cannot be discriminated against, demoted or fired for refusing to work more than 72 hours in a week. That is not to say that the employer can't ASK an employee to do more - just that if it's been more than 72 hours and the employee refuses, the employer's options are limited.

But the employee could be fired for refusing to work 71 hours a week, yes?
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
But the employee could be fired for refusing to work 71 hours a week, yes?
Yes. Theoretically. In practice, given that this is California, I'm not sure I'd want to be the test case. I'd also like to see what Carl has to say since sometimes there are special rules for LEO.

I'd also like to just remind everyone that this is only for California. Maine has a specific limit to the number of hours an employee can be asked to work, though I don't recall offhand what it is. In the other 48 states, you could be asked to work 24/7 (24/6 in just a handful of states) and no one would blink an eye.
 

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