DO THE MATH: EVEN 8:30AM-5:30PM M-F = OVERTIME

October 20, 2016

Christopher Anderson

It may feel like a perfectly normal workday. You get in at 8:30, take a half hour for lunch, and clock out at 5:30 or 6:00. Could be worse, right? And if you’re a salaried employee, who’s counting how many hours you’re working anyway? The job’s got to get done, doesn’t it?

Sure. But you deserve to be compensated properly for doing it.

Let’s go back to the example above and do the math. 8:30 to 5:30 is 9 hours. If you take a half hour for lunch, that’s still 8.5 hours. If you’re working 5 days a week, that’s 42.5 hours. If you’re working until 6:00 each day, that’s 45 hours a week. If you’re skipping lunch or working late from time to time, it’s even more.

This extra time at the office may not seem like a big deal when it’s a half hour here or an hour there, but look at it this way: isn’t there something you’d rather be doing with another 5 hours in your week? If your employer is benefiting from those extra hours you put in, it had better be paying you for them.

Wage Theft By Any Other Name

If you are paid on an hourly basis but your boss tells you to only submit 40-hour time sheets regardless of how much time you are actually putting in, that’s not okay. The company has an obligation to pay you for all hours worked. Even if you are salaried, you may still be legally entitled to overtime pay, depending on the kind of duties you perform and some other factors. Employers frequently get it wrong, misclassifying salaried workers as being exempt from overtime pay when they shouldn’t.

OK, sure, so maybe you are working a few too many hours and not getting paid extra for them. It’s a job that pays the bills. It’s a career stepping-stone. People are nice there. You don’t want to rock the boat by complaining. Right?

Before you decide to do nothing, first do yourself, your coworkers, and your family a favor by learning about what your rights and options are. Second, don’t let fear stand in your way.

Third, take action. Call or email us today to learn more about how the team at AndersonDodson can help you navigate this process. Calls are free and confidential, so why not at least ask some questions?

You owe it to yourself to act on your rights. If your dream job is expecting something for nothing from you, it sounds more like a nightmare. Let us help you wake up and get the compensation you deserve for your hard work.