When is it Overtime?

[Catek]

South Carolina is the state
My employer is a Fortune 500 company and you would think they would have their act together but for the past 3 years they have had a timeclock in place (we log in and out on our PC's) that appears to be shorting us overtime. When I questioned it, they stated that if you clock in or out before or after your designated times the thing will not calculate overtime until you have stayed for 1/2 hour or more over! THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE AUGUST OF 2001, over 3 years!

I am an hourly employee and my position was recently affected by the new OT laws, but my question goes back for years...

For example, my shift starts at 8 am and ends at 5 pm (the thing automatically deducts 1 hour for lunch). If I clock in at 7:45 am because my boss wants me to be early for a meeting, I don't get 15 minutes of OT. If I stay later than 5 pm to finish up a paper or project and say clock out at 5:25, I don't get 25 minutes of OT.

I hate to start a stink about this but I went back and looked at my time cards and it appears that there is a good amount of OT accumlated. I tend to come in a bit early and leave when I finish stuff up. I have never been one of those people who clock in precisely at 8 and out at 5 pm.

I anonymously called the Department of Labor and they said that it sounded like I was owed OT, but I would need to file a complaint and then they would launch an investigation.

1.) Does it appear I have a case?
2.) If I do launch an investigation, can my employer come back on me? (i.e., fire me, etc.)?

I could use the money.

 

[cbg]

If you are a non-exempt employee you MUST be paid for each and every hour that you work and you MUST be paid overtime for every hour over 40 in a week that you work. A certain amount of rounding is permitted but only if it works both ways; for example, if you clock in a 7:55 it is legal to round up to 8:00, but only if, also for example, when you clock out at 5:10 you are rounded to 5:15 and the fifteen minutes counted in your hours worked towards overtime. They can't round it so that it always favors the employer. They have to go to the closest quarter hour (or whatever segment is used - quarter hours are by far the most common) regardless of whom it favors if they are going to round at all.

If the facts are as you have stated then it would appear to me as well that OT is owed. (Query - you say you were affected by the new OT laws - in what way? It's possible it could change the answer.)

Your employer cannot legally fire you or take any adverse action against you because you filed this complaint. That's not to guarantee it won't happen, but if it does you can add that to your complaint.

 

[Beth3]

1.) Does it appear I have a case? Yes. An employer may institute reasonable "rounding off" payroll practices but they cannot unduly favor the employer. For example, many employers round off time in 10 minute increments. So if I'm supposed to start work at 8:00 but I punch in at 8:02, I start getting paid from 8:10am. However if I work until 5:05 (for example), they have to pay me until 5:10pm.

The employer cannot "round forward" at the start of the shift and "round back" at the end. It's arguable where thirty minutes constitutes a reasonable rounding off practice but even if it does, the way your employer is administering it is unlawful.

2.) If I do launch an investigation, can my employer come back on me? (i.e., fire me, etc.)? Yes - if they wish to open themselves up to a major violation of wage and hour laws. It isunlawful for an employer to discharge an employee for making a good faith complaint to a government agency.

If your employer fails to rectify their payroll practices and provide reasonable backpay for the OT you should have been paid, then contact your State's Department of Labor and file a complaint.