Overtime

In Need Of Advice

If I have work that I need to get completed and I ask my employees to work overtime and they say yes I must give them the option of compensatory time or payment. If they select payment can I tell them I don't need them and only work those that wish to take compensatory time?

Down_the_Middle

You must be a governmental employer if you're offering comp time; otherwise it should not be offered. Why the cat N mouse games with how employees are being paid? Seems to me you give them a choice cuz the employer doesn't care. If there's a preference, then don't offer the options. I suspect you'll be able to play this game for a short time, b/4 employees scatter like roaches when O/T is needed.

bsa

Why not just say at the beginning that you need workers who want comp time for overtime? But, you cannot offer comp time unless you are a state or federal government entity.

I don't believe that I would want to offer comp time to my employees if the law allowed it. Thank you Uncle Sam!!!

Theresa Gegen TX

You must pay them for all overtime. But remember, overtime is calculated weekly (except in California, which I believe does it daily), so if they work extra hours on Monday, you can let them go early on another day that week, and if their total hours for the week are 40 or less, no overtime will be owed.

Good Luck!

Gillian

Correct. California requires daily overtime, unless you have a properly instituted alternative work week. This means that the employer must prepare a written proposal for the employees which explains all the effects of the alternative work week, in all languages which are spoken as a primary language by 5% of the employees, hold at least one meeting with the employees to discuss the proposal(not sure what you do to discuss in all of the languages but I can hold my own with Spanish), wait 14 days for the employees to think about it, then have a secret ballot election. Then, if two thirds of the employees vote in favor, the employer can have the alternative work week, but musn't forget to notify the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, Alternative Workweek Section. Messing up any of the steps invalidates the alternative work week and subjects the employer to all of the overtime which wasn't paid while the invalid scheme was in place. Then ---- well, it goes on with rules about making any changes.

Don't you wish that you were an attorney in California? From what I can see, they stay pretty busy.