commentator
Senior Member
It sounds as though you should familiarize yourself very thoroughly with the law, which clearly states that in 37 out of the states, you are not required to be paid overtime for more than 8 hours a day, even if you are a supervisor. And that if you work more than 40 hours a week, you must be paid overtime. And that you must be paid for all the hours you actually work in a week.
And then you are going to have to be very firm with them about what you agree to work and not work, put on your time sheet, and how you blindly follow their instructions. You need to rethink your attitude about "Oh my gosh,( cringe cringe) they might actually write me up!" Yes, they might. And they might, as we have tried to tell you here, fire you for breathing wrong or wearing the wrong color of socks. But there is no inherent virtue in working unpaid overtime, or not asking clearly and professionally for your rights, or refusing to do something if they are refusing to pay you for doing it. And agreeing to lie on your time sheets just because they tell you to is dumb.
You may need to find another job. But this is just laying over in the corner whining about how you and your co workers are being treated, assuming that there is somebody you could call, threatening and muttering to yourself about how someday you're going to make them all pay....while you meekly and humbly work the hours they demand, follow their instructions when they order you to lie on your time sheets and do unpaid overtime, thinking somebody in the company SHOULD see all this effort and give you an attaboy. You've got to get a bit tougher, treat yourself as a worthwhile professional person instead of moaning because the company doesn't.
And actually, what you are doing here, this taking up of your co worker's grievance and chasing it down, is very unproductive for you.
If this sort of thing happens to you, and they threaten to fire you because your home was washed away in a flood and you're in a red cross shelter, and you tell them you're taking time of, the best answer is, "Do what you have to do, I'm sorry if we cannot work this out. I am a good employee, and I am not quitting this job."
Just as when someone orders to you take the three hours of overtime off your timesheet, you should say something like, "I'm sorry, but those are the hours I actually worked, and I am not going to falsify my time sheet. I believe you do actually owe them to me. I will be happy not to accrue any more over time, but you remember that I did because of the xxxx project, as I was told to do." And if they want to say, "You're fired!" or "We're writing you up!" that will be their decision. And it won't be the end of the world for you. They understand fully that they're liable for over time. They are on very thin ice instructing you to lie about it, but if you're silly enough to do that, then how could the wage and hour division help you? It hasn't been shown anywhere, and there's no evidence you actually did it.
And then you are going to have to be very firm with them about what you agree to work and not work, put on your time sheet, and how you blindly follow their instructions. You need to rethink your attitude about "Oh my gosh,( cringe cringe) they might actually write me up!" Yes, they might. And they might, as we have tried to tell you here, fire you for breathing wrong or wearing the wrong color of socks. But there is no inherent virtue in working unpaid overtime, or not asking clearly and professionally for your rights, or refusing to do something if they are refusing to pay you for doing it. And agreeing to lie on your time sheets just because they tell you to is dumb.
You may need to find another job. But this is just laying over in the corner whining about how you and your co workers are being treated, assuming that there is somebody you could call, threatening and muttering to yourself about how someday you're going to make them all pay....while you meekly and humbly work the hours they demand, follow their instructions when they order you to lie on your time sheets and do unpaid overtime, thinking somebody in the company SHOULD see all this effort and give you an attaboy. You've got to get a bit tougher, treat yourself as a worthwhile professional person instead of moaning because the company doesn't.
And actually, what you are doing here, this taking up of your co worker's grievance and chasing it down, is very unproductive for you.
If this sort of thing happens to you, and they threaten to fire you because your home was washed away in a flood and you're in a red cross shelter, and you tell them you're taking time of, the best answer is, "Do what you have to do, I'm sorry if we cannot work this out. I am a good employee, and I am not quitting this job."
Just as when someone orders to you take the three hours of overtime off your timesheet, you should say something like, "I'm sorry, but those are the hours I actually worked, and I am not going to falsify my time sheet. I believe you do actually owe them to me. I will be happy not to accrue any more over time, but you remember that I did because of the xxxx project, as I was told to do." And if they want to say, "You're fired!" or "We're writing you up!" that will be their decision. And it won't be the end of the world for you. They understand fully that they're liable for over time. They are on very thin ice instructing you to lie about it, but if you're silly enough to do that, then how could the wage and hour division help you? It hasn't been shown anywhere, and there's no evidence you actually did it.
Last edited: