How can a employer make mandatory overtime for some employees but let others off because they have children?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
How can a employer make mandatory overtime for some employees but let others off because they have children?
Asked on October 2, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Minnesota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
A company can do this because it has complete descretion over work hours, shifts, etc. It can decide when employees have to work and how long; it can decide who has to work how many hours; it does not have to treat all employees equally, so long as it does not discriminate on the basis of a specifically protected category, such as race, religion, age over 40, disability, or sex; and the company can make any given employee work as many hours as it wants, as long as it pays them overtime for all hours over 40 that they work (assuming, that is, that the employee is not exempt from overtime--and note that hourly workers are never exempt; if the employee is salaried and exempt, like many managers, the company can make them work extra hours without paying any extra money at all).
In brief: the law regarding overtime lets a company make any given employee work overtime--it just has to pay the employee overtime, if he or she is not exempt.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.