To be or not to be?

[blas]

What should I do?

I am supposed to do my overtime some day this coming weekend. Unfortunately, since yesterday was a holiday, we will NOT be paid overtime for our mandatory overtime worked this week if we do it.

So in essence, I will be coming in on a night I'm not supposed to normally, sacrificing a night off to go in to work....and only making my NORMAL wage.

Is it my fault the factory HAD to close down the other night for the holiday? No.

Should I show up is the question.

I will not work overtime if I am not properly compensated. Any day that I have came in early or stayed late or came in on the weekend, I have been paid my time and a half for exceeding 40 hours of work. Since this holiday only makes it 32 hours of work this week and 8 vacation. But no overtime until 40 hours of actual work is achieved.

Should I show up or should I say to hell with it?

[Seshat]

Well, what's your goal here? What matters to you most?

Get a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle. Write down the expected consequences and benefits of showing up on one side of the line, and the expected consequences and benefits of not on the other.

Decide which set of consequences and benefits is what you prefer. Then do that.

[TNT]

No advice... but that bites. Where I work the holiday counts... if I work 32 hours and have 8 hours of holiday pay, that's still 40 hours. Anything extra is time and half. (And working the holiday is always time and half, plus the holiday pay.)

The place where I used to work was the worst I've ever seen... we only got holiday pay if we were scheduled to work that day. Since I worked an odd schedule (17 or 24 hour shifts) I only worked two days a week... if, say, I was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week, I wouldn't get anything for the holiday.

If I was scheduled for a holiday, I'd get time and a half... unless I was already on overtime. Since I usually worked at least one extra day, I was always over 40 hours and only got the time and a half I'd have already gotten if it was just a normal day.

Blech.

[It's me]

Wow, I've never heard that argument before!

What are the local laws regarding overtime?

EDIT:

Okay, I just looked them up myself. All I can say is: don't take any partial-week vacation time, as you'll lose any OT pay that week as well! All that counts is whether or not you hit the magic 40 hours of actual worked hours. Stat holiday, vacation, off sick it doesn't matter. I'm starting to understand why the managers that we have imported from the US are shocked that they aren't allowed to force people to work until they collapse!

Frankly this seems really stupid on the part of the company. Why deliberately annoy your workers?

In any case, I second the suggestion to list out the pros and cons of working/not working the "extra" hours. And whether this is a long-term place that you want to work....

[TNT]

Okay, I just looked them up myself. All I can say is: don't take any partial-week vacation time, as you'll lose any OT pay that week as well! All that counts is whether or not you hit the magic 40 hours of actual worked hours. Stat holiday, vacation, off sick it doesn't matter.

Again, that depends. Where I work, it doesn't matter how to you get to 40 hours... if I took personal time or vacation from Monday through Friday, I'd still get overtime if I worked Saturday.

There's the law... and there's company policy. Company policy overrides the law if it benefits the employee (that is, companies have to meet the requirements of the law, but they're free to go above those requirements).

[Gurndigarn]

I'm assuming that if you do the Saturday work, they'll pay you 40 hours regular (for the Tu-Sa work) plus 8 hours vacation (for the missed day) at your regular pay rate, for a total of 48 hours at regular pay rate and no hours at time and a half.

If that's the case, it's standard operating procedure in most places. Legal, and despite the annoyance factor, not immoral, either. In some places unions have worked their contracts so that you would have gotten overtime. But it's not universal policy, and usually it requires a union to get it... which means all the other good and bad that comes with a union, too.

[It's me]

Again, that depends

....

There's the law... and there's company policy. Company policy overrides the law if it benefits the employee (that is, companies have to meet the requirements of the law, but they're free to go above those requirements).

I realize that. But is seems that blas's company isn't going to anything beyond what is required by law.

BTW, here's the relavent info for WI: http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/er/labor_..._8298_pweb.htm

[Becks]

Why deliberately annoy your workers?

Because they CAN.

[Shabo]

Because they CAN.

Indeed. Many of Blas's other posts have been about how irritated she is at upper management. They really are not a smart bunch.

[blas]

Amen to that my friends.

I am still torn at what to do......I mean, I really don't want to compromise my job, but at the same time, I am not willing to go out of my way to be there on a Friday or Saturday night making straight pay.

[Becks]

I am not willing to go out of my way to be there on a Friday or Saturday night making straight pay.

There's always the very slightest chance that they could surprise you when you get your check...

[XXDarrienX]

To be honest, I wouldn't come in only if it did not end up in being fired obviously.



I guess I am lucky, any hours over yoru scheduled for the week is considered OT. Even if I was scheduled 4 hours one day and ended up working 5 that one hour is OT. But we also get stuck with Mandatory OT on our day off on occassion which I am currently doing 6-10 at the call center, annoying to lose a day off when I only get two is quite annoying.