bjornagain
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California.
I work as a personal care attendant for an adult with developmental disabilities through a (for-profit) company in California. I work with him in his apartment and various other places throughout the day. I get paid hourly, and do not receive any overtime. I'm curious why not. My work week is typically like this...
Monday: 4PM-10PM awake hours.
10PM-7AM sleep hours (I get paid minimum wage when I'm sleeping).
Tuesday-Thursday: 7AM-9AM awake hours, 4PM-1PM awake hours.
10PM-7AM sleep hours.
Friday: 7AM-9AM awake hours, 1:30PM-10PM awake hours.
10PM-7AM sleep hours
Saturday: 7AM-12PM awake hours.
Total hours worked per week: 90.5
Total hours awake: 45.5
Total hours sleeping: 45
Some weeks when he needs support on weekends, I end up working 136 hours a week, for 7 straight days. That's 63 "sleeping" hours and 73 "awake" hours. Getting overtime for this would make me a happy camper.
A few questions:
Someone told me that they should only be able to count 8 hours as sleeping hours, not 9, is this true?
Why am I not getting any overtime? Am I classified under the Care Giver exemption? I believe my duties go above and beyond what a normal Care Giver would be responsible for. For example, I am in charge of his finances and paying bills, assisting him in special olympics sports (coaching him in running, basketball), cleaning, assisting him in various classes (cooking class, math and reading class), setting up monthly meetings and typing up agendas (often several pages long), coordinating with his family, practicing emergency drills, completing emergency plans, filing, helping him complete homework, etc. etc. etc.
Sorry for the long winded message, I just find it frustrating I don't get paid overtime for a job that is more work than any other job I've had. A Care Giver is supposed to be exempt from overtime because there should be significant downtime in between tasks, correct? In my situation, during the "awake" portion of my job, there is very little downtime at all. I don't get meal breaks, because when employed I was required to sign something that said I would take my breaks in between assisting the client. Some days I don't even have time to do this. Any downtime there might be is spent working on meeting agendas, emailing his parents, or filling out other paperwork. Any input would be appreciated!
- Personal Care Attendant
I work as a personal care attendant for an adult with developmental disabilities through a (for-profit) company in California. I work with him in his apartment and various other places throughout the day. I get paid hourly, and do not receive any overtime. I'm curious why not. My work week is typically like this...
Monday: 4PM-10PM awake hours.
10PM-7AM sleep hours (I get paid minimum wage when I'm sleeping).
Tuesday-Thursday: 7AM-9AM awake hours, 4PM-1PM awake hours.
10PM-7AM sleep hours.
Friday: 7AM-9AM awake hours, 1:30PM-10PM awake hours.
10PM-7AM sleep hours
Saturday: 7AM-12PM awake hours.
Total hours worked per week: 90.5
Total hours awake: 45.5
Total hours sleeping: 45
Some weeks when he needs support on weekends, I end up working 136 hours a week, for 7 straight days. That's 63 "sleeping" hours and 73 "awake" hours. Getting overtime for this would make me a happy camper.
A few questions:
Someone told me that they should only be able to count 8 hours as sleeping hours, not 9, is this true?
Why am I not getting any overtime? Am I classified under the Care Giver exemption? I believe my duties go above and beyond what a normal Care Giver would be responsible for. For example, I am in charge of his finances and paying bills, assisting him in special olympics sports (coaching him in running, basketball), cleaning, assisting him in various classes (cooking class, math and reading class), setting up monthly meetings and typing up agendas (often several pages long), coordinating with his family, practicing emergency drills, completing emergency plans, filing, helping him complete homework, etc. etc. etc.
Sorry for the long winded message, I just find it frustrating I don't get paid overtime for a job that is more work than any other job I've had. A Care Giver is supposed to be exempt from overtime because there should be significant downtime in between tasks, correct? In my situation, during the "awake" portion of my job, there is very little downtime at all. I don't get meal breaks, because when employed I was required to sign something that said I would take my breaks in between assisting the client. Some days I don't even have time to do this. Any downtime there might be is spent working on meeting agendas, emailing his parents, or filling out other paperwork. Any input would be appreciated!
- Personal Care Attendant
