But that's their problem. In most instances employees have a right, regulated by State and Federal governments, to be paid overtime for scheduled, and unscheduled labour over and above their normal hours of work.
The examples of Californians taken advantage of by Scrooge-like employers, is growing.
A computer programmer who works for an IT enterprise, after four years of securing equal time off for extra hours on the job, was told the practise was no longer valid, and that his job was exempt from the overtime statute. But the company's position is suspect, as California law dictates that computer programmers earning below a $99,995 annual threshold are entitled to overtime. The case is currently in litigation.A woman who worked as a business manager at a private college in the state of California habitually worked hours of overtime each week - on average, two hours per day and part of each weekend. As a salaried employee and in a management classification, she erroneously assumed she was not entitled, until she compared her job against the regulatory criteria in the California labour statutes. It was quickly apparent that based on the work she was doing she had every legal right to overtime pay, and has since filed a claim to recover monies owed over a two-year period. For her stance she has been ostracized by her employer, and the college wants her to resign. She's staying put.
Jennifer Luna of Stockton, California, worked as a loans processor and says she was never allowed to claim overtime as she, too was considered a salaried employee. And yet, she was required to fill out a time card, and the employer discouraged employees from stating their hours of work truthfully. In other words, each time card was required to reflect an 8-hour day, regardless of actual time on the job. Managers promised equal time off, but it was never allowed. The employer said they 'appreciated' an employee's effort and loyalty for staying late, but was never prepared to pay for it. Jennifer was eventually fired after complaining, and inciting other employees to do the same.
Peter Hodge, of Modesto, California, was terminated from his job at a security company for the same reason - speaking out. His employer claimed their semi-monthly pay schedule only allowed overtime payment beyond 88 hours worked in a two-week cycle. But California law is very clear on the requirement of overtime, paid at a rate of 1.5 times the employee's normal hourly wage for hours worked above 40 hours in a week, or eight in any given day. Double time is paid after the 12th hour of work on any give day, or after the 8th hours of work on the seventh day. Hodge's employer refused to pay, robbing Peter and his co-workers of money that was rightfully theirs. Hodge estimates there are many employees working 60-65 hours a week without seeing a dime of overtime. Meanwhile, the employer is getting off scott free.