Salary vs Overtime

[JB Good]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Tennessee

I am a salaried professional employee of a large corporation for over 10 years. There have been numerous cut backs and "reductions in force" over the past 12 - 18 months. My plate has become overly full of more work and duties than I can accomplish in an 8 hour day. I am now fed up with having to bring work home pretty much every night and/or weekend. My conservative guesstimate is that I average 50-60 hours per week which I have been doing now for years, long before the rifs began which just made things that much worse. Now, I'm not necessarily complaining about the 50-60 hours, but I damn sure at this point think I should be getting compensated for my extra effort. Or, in the alternative, place the employer on notice that I am of the opinion the work week is 8:00 - 5:00, M-F, and if my job duties cannot be accomplished in a 40 hr. week, then so be it.

My question is, do I have any legal basis to support either my assertion to be paid over & above my salary for hours over 40, or, can I at least legally advise the employer that I will cease working overtime hours without being compensated? I strongly feel that I and a lot of other employees with this company are being regulary taken advantage of with respect to hours worked per week vs compensation for same.

Sure, I could quit, but frankly, I don't necessarily dislike the job and at my age, will have trouble finding alternative employment in my field at my current pay and starting a new career is not a likely alternative.

Lastly, assuming the employer is violating the law to one degree or another, is perhaps a class action suit an idea to entertain? As I said, there are literally potentially thousands of current and certainly past employees that may qualify to become a party to an action against the employer.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or recommendations.

 

[cbg]

do I have any legal basis to support either my assertion to be paid over & above my salary for hours over 40, or, can I at least legally advise the employer that I will cease working overtime hours without being compensated?

No and no. There are no circumstances whatsoever under which an exempt employee is entitled by law to receive anything over and above their regular salary. There are no circumstances whatsoever in which an exempt employee has a legal expectation of overtime. An exempt employee is not paid on the basis of a 40 hour week; they are paid on the basis of getting their job done. If you inform your employer that you will cease working any hours over 40 unless you receive additional compensation, you can expect to be fired. It will be a legal firing, and in my state at least you would not be eligible for unemployment.

Your employer is not even remotely violating the law. There is no case at all here, let alone a class action case.

 

[JB Good]

Thanks for the quick response cbg. That is what I was afraid of. Looks like the time has come to seek employment elsewhere as there is little hope things will get any better any time soon.

JB Good

 

[cbg]

Be advised that it is by no means unusual for an exempt employee to be expected to work a 50-60, or even longer, week. What you have described in your initial post is the norm in a great many places, nor is any other company likely to be paying additional compensation to their exempt employees if they work more than 40 hours a week.

You might want to keep that in mind before you do anything irrevocable.