Boss Begrudgingly Paid Overtime

Winter Park, FLDave C. gets paid by the hour and due to nature of the job, Dave works a lot of overtime. He worked a total of 104 hours in one two-week pay period, which means he is entitled to 24 hours of overtime pay. But Dave's boss told him that he doesn't pay overtime, which is a violation of overtime laws.

"I work for this event production company and right from the beginning I was expected to work weekends and was even called away from family gatherings to take care of problems at work," says Dave. "When I got my first paycheck I asked about their overtime policy and that is when my boss said they didn't pay overtime.

His defense was that the nature of our business requires a lot of overtime and he runs a small company so that is why he didn't pay it." Dave didn't want to rock the boat so he continued to work without overtime compensation.

"After about 8 months I asked for a raise—I was only getting paid $10.50 per hour," says Dave. "At the same time, I brought up the overtime issue again and he fired me, saying I was unprofessional asking for a raise. I told him it was the law to pay overtime after 40 hours in one week.

I got my same job back last September, so now I have been working there for just over a year—for the second time. I brought up the overtime issue yet again and this time he talked to his accountant. I was paid time and a half over 40 hours but I still haven't received any back pay.

My 2 co-workers are on salary so they don't get overtime but he just hired a new hourly guy and I advised him to make sure he gets overtime. I haven't asked about back pay yet because it was hard enough to get my job back and to get paid overtime now. I continue to work anywhere from 40 to 60 hours a week—depending if we have a show coming up. We are doing a student leadership show for the White House right now so I'll definitely be getting overtime this week.

When I got a raise, my boss gave it to me begrudgingly, and said that I have a 'you owe me' attitude. There are other people at the company who are great to work with and I enjoy the work so I just have to put up with my boss.

I haven't figured out exactly how much he owes me in overtime compensation but I keep all of my pay stubs from this time around. I didn't keep my records from the first time I worked—before I was fired--but I have been advised that I can obtain them and it is my legal right. If he terminates me again I will demand my overtime back pay but for now I don't want to make the working environment any more tense; my boss and I don't see eye to eye on some things and definitely have a different vision when it comes to overtime. I think everyone should be compensated fairly; this profession requires skill and I could probably be making more money serving tables, especially when I work 60 hours per week without overtime."