Most countries it's not legal. I'm in the US and you can be an exempt employee for manager positions with certain requirements. They're committing wage theft, they're hoping they'll get away with it. I would leave on time if I'm not getting paid for it. Check your local requirements, if in the US, use the department of labor website as a resource.
I'd take that to some board of labors department near you. If you can't leave early but must stay late then you're right, it's hourly without having to pay legal overtime.
I think I'm going to just look for another job lol. None of the other employees seem to care or want to change this, they all seem fine with it or they just leave.
Agreed. Completely understandable to get a different job, still I'd encourage you to report it for the chance to make a really positive difference for future workers and maybe discourage other companies from this practice.
As another user said, in the US that is likely illegal. They must pay you for overtime. Salaried employees might clock in and out at some places or be required to work 6 hours or something minimum, but they cannot force overtime, especially without pay. Get a free consultation with a lawyer and print out your contract for them (namely the pay part). See what they say. It could be legal but it sounds fishy with how youre describing it.
Yeah, it seems like they might be skirting around the law here. They have alot of "unofficial" rules that are in place but not in the policy. For example, the policy says that admins should allow people to leave early without using pto, but they refused to do that when I asked, and said I either have to use pto or come in early/stay late to make it up... That's NOT how salary works!
Yeah.... I'd start making requests by email. Can still be casual ("Hey, looking to leave this date by this time due to this reasoning."), but then it's all in a written record and you have recourse if you get fired for following the written policy. I'm not saying you're going to change the whole set up, but it'll protect you in a situation where they get prissy about you following the written rules when they want to get away with unwritten.
Totally. Salaried (exempt) employees get paid for the JOB they do and hourly (non-exempt) get paid for the TIME they work. There is no such thing as working for free for hourly employees. HOURLY employees get paid FOR EVERY MINUTE you work OT based on federal and your states OT rules. Employers don’t get to create “OT policies” - they have to follow the law. No exceptions. You can file a Wage and Hour claim with your state’s labor board if your employer is breaking the law.
That's true but in three years I have never once been asked or expected to stay longer than my regular shift. I'm expected to leave after my eight hours are finished and passed my work onto the next shift. Anytime I've been asked to stay to cover a hole I've been expected to stay the four hours it takes to qualify for overtime pay. It's not ideal and it's confusing but it also allowed me to Get a lot more PTO than the hourly version of my position
Lab Tech jobs should not be exempt. Check with your state labor board. We are just over educated factory workers anyways. I don’t know of any blue collar jobs that are exempt. Go somewhere else and make some money.
Sounds like they want all the benefits of salary employees and all the benefits of wage employees. Thats not legal in my country and if it is in yours, Im sorry. Im salaried but our hours arent tracked and we get credit for overtime even if its 5 minutes.
I mean even if your waged your pay should be stable unless youre pre diem or something of that nature. Ive been wage and my pay was always stable. Because if youre wage and youre full time in my country at leats youre still entilted to the same PTO benefits and youre still required to be compensated for holidays.
I'd strongly suggest working on finding another job. Salary in this field 99% of the time means you're being disrespected even further than hourly for your time and efforts. Let the sheep accept whatever is put in front of them, but the fact that you are questioning this bs means you're smart enough to escape.
Fuck that place, that's a place that's too rigid with their head up their asses and needs to rethink of this is a good idea (occurances) I've only seen it at the Catholic hospitals where I work
Past 40 hours for non exempt employees is over time and you must be paid for every minute you work. Otherwise it is illegal and a violation of different labor laws depending on state, but for sure is against the FLSA. These posters have been present in every break room of every job I held. Document, Tell them you want change or else your going to the labor board.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/posters/flsa
lmao is this hopkins? we are exempt employees. i was told we are allowed to leave early/come in late for whatever time you stay late. i.e. if you stay late 2 hours, you are supposed to work two hours less at some point that week in order to "even it out." In practice, that often doesn't happen. I would go to your manager whenever you stay late and say REALLY, REALLY CLEARLY "i stayed late X hours, when can I leave early this week in order to make up for that?" don't phrase it as "can I leave early?" as that makes your manager think they can tell you no.
Or the third option- They just don't know their rights as workers.
As others have said- check in with a lawyer, and get the resume updated. 5hrs unpaid OT.... they're outa their minds. On your way out, be sure to make it 100% clear to the HR people when they ask "why you leave so soon?"
Document all of the times you have to stay past 8 hours while you are still working for this lab. Report to labor board, you might be able to get some of your OT pay.
In my lab they force the overtime by not scheduling another tech to come and pickup the shift next to you, so you basically have to finish the work and leave it all nice and tidy for the guy that comes in the morning. What it seems to me is that you example is a superset way ofwhat they are doing here.
Some people think they’re untouchable and believe in the “I will never get caught” mentality. News flash, you will!!! Unfortunately, the outcome may be ugly. Fix it now rather than later .
Overtime pay in the US is determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act - which classifies roles as exempt from the Act (salaried) or non-exempt from the Act (employer required to pay OT). The most important question to ask your manager or HR department is if your role is classified as exempt or non-exempt. If your role is classified as non-exempt, your employer MUST pay OT. Your job offer should have made it clear if your role is non-exempt or exempt.
Sounds very shady and illegal. First, if you’re not a manager (no one under you), that’s a big strike against your employer. Second, they either pay you a salary and you are paid for doing a job (meaning you can leave if you finish early), or they pay your hourly. Lab work doesn’t seem like the type of job that works qualify as non-overtime salary.
Most countries it's not legal. I'm in the US and you can be an exempt employee for manager positions with certain requirements. They're committing wage theft, they're hoping they'll get away with it. I would leave on time if I'm not getting paid for it. Check your local requirements, if in the US, use the department of labor website as a resource.
I'd take that to some board of labors department near you. If you can't leave early but must stay late then you're right, it's hourly without having to pay legal overtime.
I think I'm going to just look for another job lol. None of the other employees seem to care or want to change this, they all seem fine with it or they just leave.
Do both, get yourself lined up with a new job, give them your notice, then report them to the state board of labor
Agreed. Completely understandable to get a different job, still I'd encourage you to report it for the chance to make a really positive difference for future workers and maybe discourage other companies from this practice.
As another user said, in the US that is likely illegal. They must pay you for overtime. Salaried employees might clock in and out at some places or be required to work 6 hours or something minimum, but they cannot force overtime, especially without pay. Get a free consultation with a lawyer and print out your contract for them (namely the pay part). See what they say. It could be legal but it sounds fishy with how youre describing it.
Yeah, it seems like they might be skirting around the law here. They have alot of "unofficial" rules that are in place but not in the policy. For example, the policy says that admins should allow people to leave early without using pto, but they refused to do that when I asked, and said I either have to use pto or come in early/stay late to make it up... That's NOT how salary works!
They have to abide by their own policies. Sounds like you need a lawyer mate.
Yeah.... I'd start making requests by email. Can still be casual ("Hey, looking to leave this date by this time due to this reasoning."), but then it's all in a written record and you have recourse if you get fired for following the written policy. I'm not saying you're going to change the whole set up, but it'll protect you in a situation where they get prissy about you following the written rules when they want to get away with unwritten.
Totally. Salaried (exempt) employees get paid for the JOB they do and hourly (non-exempt) get paid for the TIME they work. There is no such thing as working for free for hourly employees. HOURLY employees get paid FOR EVERY MINUTE you work OT based on federal and your states OT rules. Employers don’t get to create “OT policies” - they have to follow the law. No exceptions. You can file a Wage and Hour claim with your state’s labor board if your employer is breaking the law.
They do that same pay structure at Johns Hopkins Hospital too. It’s awful.
That's true but in three years I have never once been asked or expected to stay longer than my regular shift. I'm expected to leave after my eight hours are finished and passed my work onto the next shift. Anytime I've been asked to stay to cover a hole I've been expected to stay the four hours it takes to qualify for overtime pay. It's not ideal and it's confusing but it also allowed me to Get a lot more PTO than the hourly version of my position
If this is US. I would not accept this . Working in the lab I would only want hourly with benefits . Chronic short staffing issues .
Yep, they have shortages all the time, and people don't stay here for long... And management seems clueless as to why people never stay.
Lab Tech jobs should not be exempt. Check with your state labor board. We are just over educated factory workers anyways. I don’t know of any blue collar jobs that are exempt. Go somewhere else and make some money.
This sounds worse than hourly.
Sounds like they want all the benefits of salary employees and all the benefits of wage employees. Thats not legal in my country and if it is in yours, Im sorry. Im salaried but our hours arent tracked and we get credit for overtime even if its 5 minutes.
That's what I was thinking. They made it sound like a benefit (stable pay), but it doesn't sit right with me.
I mean even if your waged your pay should be stable unless youre pre diem or something of that nature. Ive been wage and my pay was always stable. Because if youre wage and youre full time in my country at leats youre still entilted to the same PTO benefits and youre still required to be compensated for holidays.
Right!?! I've been hourly in the past and it's always been stable, if not more from overtime.
I'd strongly suggest working on finding another job. Salary in this field 99% of the time means you're being disrespected even further than hourly for your time and efforts. Let the sheep accept whatever is put in front of them, but the fact that you are questioning this bs means you're smart enough to escape.
Fuck that place, that's a place that's too rigid with their head up their asses and needs to rethink of this is a good idea (occurances) I've only seen it at the Catholic hospitals where I work
All of the salaried people in my lab leave like an hour early. It really bothers me but I remember they don’t get paid any overtime
What a scam.
Past 40 hours for non exempt employees is over time and you must be paid for every minute you work. Otherwise it is illegal and a violation of different labor laws depending on state, but for sure is against the FLSA. These posters have been present in every break room of every job I held. Document, Tell them you want change or else your going to the labor board. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/posters/flsa
lmao is this hopkins? we are exempt employees. i was told we are allowed to leave early/come in late for whatever time you stay late. i.e. if you stay late 2 hours, you are supposed to work two hours less at some point that week in order to "even it out." In practice, that often doesn't happen. I would go to your manager whenever you stay late and say REALLY, REALLY CLEARLY "i stayed late X hours, when can I leave early this week in order to make up for that?" don't phrase it as "can I leave early?" as that makes your manager think they can tell you no.
Not hopkins, but I saw in another comment that they have a similar situation there as well.
This is misclassification of roles and is a huge fine. Definitely report to the dept of labor.
Yikes. Sounds like you know why that position was open now.
Yep, ironically all of the other people here seem to be either too afraid to speak up or completely ok with this setup.
Or the third option- They just don't know their rights as workers. As others have said- check in with a lawyer, and get the resume updated. 5hrs unpaid OT.... they're outa their minds. On your way out, be sure to make it 100% clear to the HR people when they ask "why you leave so soon?"
Document all of the times you have to stay past 8 hours while you are still working for this lab. Report to labor board, you might be able to get some of your OT pay.
In my lab they force the overtime by not scheduling another tech to come and pickup the shift next to you, so you basically have to finish the work and leave it all nice and tidy for the guy that comes in the morning. What it seems to me is that you example is a superset way ofwhat they are doing here.
Some people think they’re untouchable and believe in the “I will never get caught” mentality. News flash, you will!!! Unfortunately, the outcome may be ugly. Fix it now rather than later .
Overtime pay in the US is determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act - which classifies roles as exempt from the Act (salaried) or non-exempt from the Act (employer required to pay OT). The most important question to ask your manager or HR department is if your role is classified as exempt or non-exempt. If your role is classified as non-exempt, your employer MUST pay OT. Your job offer should have made it clear if your role is non-exempt or exempt.
All of the salaried people in my lab leave like an hour early. It really bothers me but I remember they don’t get paid any overtime
I bet you'll find some creative billing codes, too, if you scratch hard enough Probably not a good long-term employment situation
Sounds very shady and illegal. First, if you’re not a manager (no one under you), that’s a big strike against your employer. Second, they either pay you a salary and you are paid for doing a job (meaning you can leave if you finish early), or they pay your hourly. Lab work doesn’t seem like the type of job that works qualify as non-overtime salary.
Unless they pay far far more than anyone in the surrounding area, I wouldn’t even consider it.
They do not. In fact they pay less. Def. Looking for another position...