carrying over time

Jax · March 2003

Is it okay to have an employee work 36 hours one week and then 44 hours the next to make two weeks of 40 hours? (no overtime paid)

Our company allows the weird schedules and employees are asking that additional hours being handled this way.

I just wanted to make sure this was legal.

POPEYE · March 2003

Unless there is some obscure law that I am not aware of, you may NOT pay as you have posted. Overtime @ 1.5 must be paid for time worked over 40 hours. There may be some law for agricultural positions that I am not familiar with.

LindaS · March 2003

I agree with Popeye, you may not carry hours from one week to the next.

sandra_d · March 2003

Not ok unless you are a health care provider of some type, which you could opt to work under the 8-80 rule - employees get overtime if they work more than 8 hours in a day and/or more than 80 hours in a 2-week pay period.

Clare · March 2003

In Wisconsin, you must pay overtime for all hours actually worked over 40 in a workweek. I believe they may be some exceptions for hospitals. We would pay the overtime.

Hatchetman · March 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-05-03 AT 07:40PM (CST)[/font][p]There's is something called a "9/80" that on the face of it resembles what your describing because most people only conceptualize the work week starting at 12 midnight on a Sunday rather than in the middle of the work day.

Under 9/80, the employee works 8 9-hour days, 1 8-hour day and the 10th day is a regular day off, usually attached to Saturday and Sunday, assuming those are also regular days off. The third regular day off alternates with the 8 hour day.

Thus if you conceptualize that the work week starts in the middle of the 8 hour day, you can see how during any particular work week under that schedule, only 40 hours are worked.

For example, if the following is the schedule..

The employee works M-Th 9 hours, one Friday of 8 hours, and every other Friday has off. Saturday and Sunday are also days off. Start time is 8 a.m.
Friday 12:01 p.m. begins the work week.

Work Week 1
Friday 12:01 p.m.....Sat..Sun...Mon...Tu...Wed...Thur...Fri till 12 noon
4 hours..................Off...Off......9........9.....9......9........0 (off)

equals 40 hours

Work Week 2

Friday 12:01 p.m.....Sat..Sun...Mon...Tu...Wed...Thur...Fri till 12 noon
0 (0ff)......................Off...Off......9........9.....9......9.......4

equals 40 hours.
Cycle starts again on Friday, 12:01 p.m.

Thus you can see how it appears the employee works 44 hours one week and 36 hours the next but never gets overtime nor docked pay.

Under FLSA, the employer may start the work week on any day, at any hour. It just has to be consistently maintained once that occurs. Most employers go with Sun (12:01 a.m.) thru Sat (12 midnite), of course, because that's what is traditional and no one is usally working at those times to cause timekeeping problems.

Also, the employer may have more than one work week for various schedules and shifts. But whatever work week exists for any non-exempt, hourly employee, overtime, at time and a half, has to be paid if it occurs during the employee's work week.

There are some technical issues about changing work weeks to 9/80 from the current work week but above is what the 9/80 schedule sets up. The technical aspects may wind up reversing the order of the 8 hour day and the third day off from what is shown above.

Many people use the Monday as the third day off alternating witht he 8 hour day on Monday...then the work week would start at 12:01 p.m. on Monday. Any other week day can also be used with the set up adjusted for that day. Of course, Tues, Wed, and Thurs don't give three day weekends.

Pork · March 2003

Short answer is "NO", the medical field does have a slight variation and they are an exception to the "Subpart B-Overtime Pay Requirements" as posted above. Pork

carrying over time

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