No overtime pay while working from home?

Anonymous

June 17,2023 at 12:41AM UTC

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No overtime pay while working from home?

Hi, I work for a large organization where employees are allowed to work from home and physically go to work. The organization does not pay employees overtime pay when they work beyond their normal working hours at home. Also, since the workload is a lot, most employees take their work home and continue working late into the night because of the deadlines that they must meet. Some even continue working at home on the weekend, on the company laptop. They/We are not paid because we're working from home. Is it normal for companies to not pay overtime if employees work from home outside of normal working hours?

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Cindy GloverJune 17,2023 at 2:22AM UTC
Check your state laws - anything over 40 is overtime
surfnwriteJune 18,2023 at 1:51PM UTC
It depends entirely if she is hourly or exempt. But since she would get OT if on site, I’m guessing she’s hourly, so she should get OT regardless of location.
Cindy GloverJune 18,2023 at 2:34PM UTC
You are correct ?
AnonymousJune 17,2023 at 2:24AM UTC
I would definitely look into that because your location of work should not dictate your pay parameters. Work is work.
A call to your State's Labor Board or EEOC should give you the guidance.
AnonymousJune 17,2023 at 3:03AM UTC
Are these exempt or nonexempt workers?
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistJune 17,2023 at 4:02AM UTC
Are they paying these same people OT when it's worked on site?
Peggie Arvidson * Career Consultant | Adoptee Advocate | RecruiterJune 17,2023 at 1:32PM UTC
are you hourly or salaried employees?
AnonymousJune 17,2023 at 2:59PM UTC
This will vary by state, especially if everyone is on a salary. Hourly workers should always be paid for all the hours they work. State labor laws generally determine overtime pay. I would check with your state's labor board or Department of Labor.
Rosa E HearnJune 18,2023 at 12:35PM UTC
Is the company asking them to take it home and finish the work? Or are the employees doing this as free will?
I'll admit I take work home constantly but because I want to. No one is forcing me and no one asks me too. If something personal comes up then I won't work, but everything thing I do is my choice. I certainly don't expect my employer to pay me, when in reality they are perfectly fine with waiting for me to finish at work.
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 1:48AM UTC
Hi, the employees take home the work to finish because the workload is simply too much and management is aware also staffing issues....so employees have to take home the work to complete and meet deadlines.
AnonymousJune 18,2023 at 1:17PM UTC
I am a remote
worker and contractor and 40 hours only on contract.. I am at corporate company and they have made me work overtime but without overtime pay. They make their permanent employees work extra hours and weekends and don’t really care. If your are full time the laws may be different. If contracted look at state laws. I have pushed back on the company now as advised by my agency. At another contract role which was onsite they did not allow contractors to work over 40 hours.
AnonymousJune 18,2023 at 1:51PM UTC
If you are hourly, make sure you're billing the hours you worked, whether at home or office. They can't not pay you overtime if you're hourly. If you're salaried, then the hours you work per week doesn't matter as much as accomplishing your job tasks, so it's tougher to get overtime per se with salaried.
AnonymousJune 18,2023 at 3:10PM UTC
Are you salaried or hourly?
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 1:45AM UTC
Salaried.
AnonymousJune 18,2023 at 3:19PM UTC
No, it isn't. At least not in Europe. It isn't allowed, that said...
That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. A lot. Mainly within huge companies.
In Teleperformance, for example, you will never get any promotion if you are not willing to work at least 1 hour more (per day) than you should (for free). After your working day. Before (what my proposal was) doesn't count. I refused.
The salary in that company is one of the lowest salaries (at least in Europe) compared to other companies in their business. In Greece, I earned €806 net. Per MONTH.
Well, I should have earned more, this is what they offer and what I got. Portugal is not better, and other countries are even worse.
Kathy LeskiJune 18,2023 at 3:56PM UTC
No, this is not normal for OT eligible employees. The physical location of where they work should be irrelevant. What do they do when someone has been asked to travel to another location (if that's relevant)? Are you in the US? If so which State?
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 1:43AM UTC
Hi, you made a good point because the employees that go on business trips are paid. There is no policy on overtime pay while working from home. Also, I don't live in the US.
AnonymousJune 18,2023 at 4:12PM UTC
Exempt or non-exempt?
Exempt employees may or may not be paid OT or get comp pay for hours worked over 40.
Non-exempt must be paid by law in the US. The employer can require prior approval for OT. If it’s worked without prior approval, they are required to pay the OT, but it can be subject to disciplinary action.
AnonymousJune 19,2023 at 3:17AM UTC
The law does not require employers to pay exempt employees overtime
Krystin MorganJune 18,2023 at 5:48PM UTC
If an employee is not exempt from overtime, it's illegal for a company not to pay for overtime worked. (If the employee is exempt, which is often--not always--the case for salaried workers, then there is no requirement to pay OT).
AnonymousJune 19,2023 at 12:56PM UTC
I was in that situation during the pandemic. We were told to track our time carefully and would occasionally be allowed to put in OT. That was the benefit of being "hourly". On most days, though, we were all on strict orders to cut it off at 7.5 hours, whether we were done or not. It was fairly easy to adapt. I kept a strict schedule of a lunch break and cut off times. My husband's company was fully remote for 2 years! He loved it.
Lorna Rose, J.D., M.S.June 19,2023 at 2:04PM UTC
Friendly reminder for everyone that being salaried doesn’t automatically qualify them for exempt status - a company can’t call you ‘exempt’ just to get out of paying overtime. This is under the FLSA which is a federal standard and therefore every single state has to abide by this, as well. Please contact your state labor board and/or the Dept of Labor.
Afo Ogbeyalu KaluJune 19,2023 at 2:38PM UTC
https://www.thehrteam.com/blog/employment-laws-for-remote-employees-18-important-things-to-know-for-compliance/
AnonymousJune 19,2023 at 5:15PM UTC
Are you salaried? If you are salaried there is no legitimate reason for overtime and that is that. If you are an hourly employee then you might have a wage claim with your local area. File a claim and see what happens. Be sure you have documentation of the hours worked in either a spreadsheet or screenshots of when you log in and out or calendar screenshots.
Vicki Appleby BentleyJune 20,2023 at 3:35PM UTC
Salaried can still make overtime unless the role is an exempt role according to IRS classification. (Even then, you can still negotiate for comp time.) I second the documentation part.
Dawn ShaveJune 20,2023 at 1:19PM UTC
Don't know about your state, but my work at home company got in trouble with the Department of Labor and had to pay back pay overtime for a couple of years. It depends on what your job contract (if you have one) says. There are lots of gray areas, but you might want to check into DOL laws in your state.
surfnwriteJune 20,2023 at 9:29PM UTC
I never said hourly and exempt are the same
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 12:09AM UTC
If you're salary exempt, unfortunately yes, they don't have to pay you overtime, regardless of if it's work done in the office or at home. Now, if they still pay you overtime if you don't work from home, then what they are doing is definitely illegal and I would report them to the Department of Labor. If you have had any way to track your time since they implemented this policy, make sure you have copies saved as evidence because you will likely be owed back pay.
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 1:39AM UTC
Hi, I am a salaried employee who is entitled to overtime pay particularly if I am in the office working. Also I am, not aware of any policy about overtime pay while working from home.
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 1:40AM UTC
Hi, salaried and entitled to overtime pay. No policy on overtime for working from home.
AnonymousJune 21,2023 at 2:03PM UTC
If you are non-exempt it is illegal not to pay you for your time no matter where you are working from.
AnonymousJune 22,2023 at 4:01AM UTC
When you work more hours than you have in your contract, I can't imagine this is legal.
At least not in Europe, where I am based.
Of course, it happens, but mainly in huge call centres or in companies that have many immigrants as employees. The new slavery.