re: If you started a job where you originally made straight time paid overtime

My first job out of school was working on a subcontract to a US Government site. My employer said that, since I was early career, I would be making straight time on overtime. About a year into it, they were inspected by the IG. When it came up that they were charging the customer 1.5 for OT and only paying straight time, it did not go over well. A lot of us got reimbursed for where we were shortchanged.

quote:

---

Going to need more information.

---

Exactly. In many cases it would be legal, and in many others it would be illegal. If you are salaried with an overtime bonus then it’s probably legal.

So they paid OT when you worked OT and now they don't and that is all that has changed? No change in your role? Probably technically illegal but the Labor Department is not going to do a thing about it and you're wasting your time fighting it. It is going to become the norm as long as Washington is in possession of corporations completely. The only recourse employees have is to take the draft horse's stand from "Animal Farm" and buckle down, work harder and believe everything will work out until you die from exertion. Or you could, and should, mimic the world's oldest labor action, one that has been in place since the beginning of time and practiced by the most exploited laborers ever, and that is wobble baby. Wobble like your life depends on it. When you would normally give them just a little extra just don't. Don't stop doing anything, that will get you run off, but frick up as much as possible and be slow as you can get away with....management is impressed by the look of their employees thrashing....so thrash like you mean it while getting almost nothing at all done and fricking up as much of their shite as you can without getting run off. Take delight in it. For those who will say this is unethical or some such nonsense so is exploiting an employee....I would NEVER start out wobbling a job but if Management proves to want their job wobbled by their actions wobbling is what they will get and they will think they have the finest employee they ever dreamt of because, at the end of the day, all they care about is not doing any work themselves and thinking they have their foot on the necks of their employees. Again, not a good employer, but one who would change their OT process without changing positions is not a good employer - they are BEGGING for a wobble.....

quote:

---

if you dont have a written contract the employer can do pretty much whatever they want

---

No they can't. Federal labor law requires overtime compensation for any thing more than 40 hours a week for almost all classifications of employee. Employers get by without meeting that requirement in a myriad of ways and it is one of the most won labor department complaints filed by employees because it is pretty easy to determine who is exempt and who isn't....just because your employer says you are exempt does not mean you are. It is very common for employers to tell employees they are exempt when they aren't remotely close to being exempt.

Keep in mind that this was so prior to January of this year. To "win" prior to January meant the Department of Labor found that the employer had wrongfully classified the employee...and it was very common. With the current state of affairs in government agencies it is highly unlikely that anyone will "win" such cases going forward because the DOL will simply be too busy to ever hear the complaint. It is going to become very common for employers to do exactly what is being described here.

quote:

---

This is my question too. If you didn't sign a contract, they can change your pay however they want.

---

Not true. You can’t make someone salary to avoid paying overtime.

quote:

---

Yes. The employee has the option to quit so the employer isn't forcing the employee to work under the new structure

---

Framed similarly - the old job is gone, do you want the new one?

quote:

---

Are you required to work over 40 hours without any additional compensation OR do you get a bonus in lieu of the paid OT?

---

Most of the time OT is optional but I guess there are times when it could be considered "required" specially if you're a project lead.
After 40 hours, I am still paid my same hourly rate for each hour worked over 40. So I am compensated for the OT, just not at time and a half. IE: if I made $10 per hour and I worked 60 hours, I would make $600.
If I work under 40 hours, then I am only paid for the hours worked. IE: If I made $10 per hour and I worked 20 hours, I would make 200 bucks.

So we are hourly employees, but we are exempt from the time and a half after 40.

quote:

---

I know a mechanical engineer that was making $110 an hour for every hour he worked. No time and a half and no vacation or sick time though. Basically no benefits...and that was 20 yrs ago

---

Basically the same thing except that we do have a full benefits package. Vacation, sick, 401k, holidays, etc.


Legal, Illegal, "loop hole" ..... I am unsure.
But I'd imagine its legal being every industrial engineering firm I'm familiar with does this once you reach a certain hourly rate.

quote:

---

Is it legal? Maybe, maybe not. The FLSB (under the DOL) has pretty strict rules for exempt vs non-exempt positions. I don’t know how small of companies they apply to, but a large company I worked for years ago paid $86MM in fines and back pay to people who were mis-classified.

---

VERY common in construction and engineering companies to do it for years knowing it will catch up to them someday and then paying about 10 cents on the dollar. It is very common.

Them paying anyting is getting less common and is, perhaps, a thing of the past given that the DOL is the authority and is being gutted and stripped of any meaningful resources to hear such cases.

quote:

---

The amount of shite the OT handwaves away with "well if you don't like it you can QUIT" is hilarious. No your employer can't do illegal shite and tell you to quit if you don't like it

---

It’s also funny how many people definitively state shite that is completely wrong about this subject