What are my rights regarding mandatory overtime?
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What are my rights regarding mandatory overtime?
I work in manufacturing for a large company. I work 4/10 hour shifts from Monday-Thursday but I work a
significant amount of overtime on Fridays. I often work half days which end at 11:30 but occasionally work full 10’s. The company has encouraged its employees to schedule all appointments Friday afternoons and to notify them of your commitment. They don’t notify you about overtime until a day beforehand. I currently have a standing appointment with a counselor Friday afternoons to deal with the fallout from a rape. I followed their scheduling recommendations but they have indicated I won’t be allowed to refuse overtime and demanded a note to consider it. I want to keep this confidential but also know that my state affords few protections to workers and does allow mandatory overtime. Do I have any recourse or will I be at risk of losing my job? I have made it clear to them I will work as much of the overtime shift as possible before my appointment.
Asked on January 19, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Missouri
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Unless you have protection against this mandatory overtime policy under the terms of an employment contrat or union agreement, you have no claim here. The fact is that a company can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit (absent some form of legally actionable discriminaton). Accordingly, you can be terminated for not working all overtime that you are scheduled for. In fact, as an "at will" worker you can be fired for no reason or any reason at all.
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