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HR MATTERS E-TIPS
THIS WEEK’S E-TIP: Mandatory Overtime and Alternatives
Published by Personnel Policy Service, Inc.
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THIS WEEK’S E-TIP: Mandatory Overtime and Alternatives
In most cases, it is perfectly legal to require employees to work
overtime.
However, to prevent employee burnout, you may want to consider other
alternatives as well. |
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THIS WEEK’S E-TIP: Mandatory Overtime and Alternatives
If you have reduced or frozen staffing levels recently, you may
think extra
overtime is the only way to meet production demands. Many employees
find working extra hours attractive since the federal Fair Labor
Standards
Act (FLSA) and most state laws require overtime pay at the rate of
one
and one-half times the regular rate for all hours worked over 40 in
a
single workweek. A study by the Employment Policy Foundation
indicates that overtime pay can increase an employee’s pre-tax
income
by almost 25%. For some employees, however, mandatory overtime can
be a heavy burden and should, therefore, be weighed against other
alternatives.
* Legalities of Requiring Overtime *
Generally, under federal law, you can require employees to work as
much overtime as needed, assuming there is no collective bargaining
agreement or other contract restricting the extra hours. The FLSA
does
not limit the number of hours that nonexempt employees can work in
any
week and does not prohibit requiring overtime. It only regulates how
that
time must be paid. (Download
free Hours of Work model policy.)
Most states also do not limit the number of hours an employee can
work
(provided the employee is not a minor) or prohibit an employer from
requiring employees to work overtime. The majority simply require,
as
under the FLSA, that employers pay the appropriate overtime rate for
all
hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Note that some exemptions
to this general rule apply. For example, a few states, such as
Illinois,
require one day of rest a week, and Maine limits the number of
overtime
hours an employee can work. Other states, including New Jersey and
West Virginia, restrict overtime hours only for health care
employees,
such as nurses. And a few, such as California, have an additional
requirement of premium pay for daily overtime.
You should note, too, that in rare instances, you may have to excuse
an
employee from mandatory overtime as a religious accommodation or as
an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Similarly,
you may be required by the Family and Medical Leave Act to relieve
an
employee on intermittent or reduced schedule leave of overtime
obligations.
* Four Alternatives to Overtime *
Of course, you also should keep in mind that mandatory overtime can
be
disruptive and even cause hardships. Many employees have outside
obligations that overtime requirements affect, such as childcare
responsibilities and second jobs. In addition, employees may be just
plain tired of working too many hours in a week.
To help deal with these issues, you may want to consider other
solutions
to a mandatory system. For example, you can:
1. Solicit volunteers for overtime.
2. Rotate the overtime so that the same employees do not have to
work extra hours every week.
3. Transfer employees temporarily to the understaffed area.
4. Bring in part-time or temporary employees.
If you expect the overtime to continue for a long period, you may
even
find it cost effective to hire additional employees. The extra
expense for
recruiting and training, payroll, and benefits for the new employees
may
be less than paying overtime and the related costs of burnout, such
as
turnover.
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* Give Plenty of Notice *
As a final point, if you do have to institute a mandatory overtime
requirement, make sure to explain the policy to your employees. In
particular, update handbooks and job descriptions to cover the
possibility
of overtime. (Download
free Hours of Work model policy .)
In addition, give affected employees as much advance notice as
possible prior to the
scheduled overtime. This way, even if they do not want the extra
time, at
least they will be able to plan for it. |
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Subscribers to the
Personnel Policy Manual and HR Policy Answers on
CD can find more information on overtime requirements in Hours of
Work, Chapter 207, note 18.Not a subscriber? If you would like to order one of our policy
chapters,
go to:
http://www.hrpolicyanswers.com.
If you have any questions, please call us at 1-800-437-3735. We'll
be
happy to help you. |
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