# overtime pay **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009 "2001-05-20T21:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonderfull\_one](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dec6dc/32.png) [@wonderfull\_one](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderfull_one)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/1 "2001-05-20T21:12:51Z")
a freind works at a non union trucking company,he says they do not pay him time and a half for hours worked over 40 is this legal? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/2 "2001-05-20T21:14:49Z")
I don’t know about US practices, but in the UK overtime pay rates are not legally required. I do not earn any overtime pay at all (even at standard rates). The European Working Time Directive specifies Europe-wide limits on the number of working hours per week, but most employers “ask” employees to sign waivers for this. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/3 "2001-05-20T21:31:38Z")
If you are in the US, time and a half is mandatory for hourly workers. If you are a salaried employee, you work when they say “work.” ---
**Author:** ![mojo\_filter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mojo\_filter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojo_filter)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/4 "2001-05-20T21:43:47Z")
If your friend is a driver he is not legally entitled to overtime pay (morally yes, legally no). Drivers, unless they are covered by a labor contract that states otherwise, are subject only to the Hours of Service regulations that are set forth by the DOT (Dept of Transportion) and these rules do not provide for overtime pay. Being a former OTR driver myself I know the feeling of working upwards of 90 hours a week without so much as an attaboy much less overtime pay. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/5 "2001-05-20T21:46:04Z")
This brings up the question can one be _forced_ to work overtime? I live in a “right to fire” state, Georgia, and it has been told to me that if I refuse to work OT, I’m a gone rabbit. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/6 "2001-05-20T21:50:01Z")
Maybe, maybe not. I work in a personnel office in a local government agency and we have to pay overtime under FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act). I’m not sure how it applies to the private sector - I think it depends on how big (how many employees) the company is. Call the U.S. Dept. of Labor for a definitive answer. ---
**Author:** ![mojo\_filter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mojo\_filter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojo_filter)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/7 "2001-05-20T21:57:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodem \* > \*\*This brings up the question can one be _forced_ to work overtime? I live in a “right to fire” state, Georgia, and it has been told to me that if I refuse to work OT, I’m a gone rabbit. > > Quasi \*\* Yep, you are an “Employee at Will” and are subject to be fired for absolutely anything unless it discriminatory. They can, if they wish, fire you because they don’t like the way you part your hair. (I am not joking) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/8 "2001-05-20T21:57:42Z")
Once again, I post from ignorance. [this site](http://dli.state.mt.us/Publications/mstreew2.html) lists some of the exceptions. And Interstate truck drivers are among them. By the way, this site is just one from a quick search. I’m sure more authoratative ones will be posted soon. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/9 "2001-05-21T00:54:03Z")
As the prior link stated, unless you are an exempt employee you must be paid time and a half for all hours worked over 40 a week. If you work 10 hours one day and 6 the next day, there is no o.t. There are other exceptions, but the primary one is the “exempt” employee, and that is management usually. Failure to work o.t. as a cause for firing is one reason why it’s good to belong to a union. The union will obtain a contract ensuring the employee of certain rights: one usually being that he or she does not have to work overtime. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/10 "2001-05-21T01:15:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*If you work 10 hours one day and 6 the next day, there is no o.t. > \*\* Unless you work for an employer who pays overtime based on the number of hours worked per day. There are some who pay overtime for anything over 8 hours a day(I know, I work for one, but I’m “exempt”.) As long as all hours over 40 are paid overtime, the employer has some leeway as far as what other hours they pay overtime for. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/11 "2001-05-21T02:12:27Z")
I should have said that there is no mandatory o.t. ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overtime-pay/66009/12 "2001-05-21T06:54:35Z")
Firefighters are another exception to this rule… B. DEFINITION Except for Police personnel, Hospital Employees, and Firefighters, as described below, overtime is time worked that exceeds the hours of a full-time employee’s regular daily schedule on pay status or exceeds 40 hours on pay status in a workweek. Pay status includes time worked and paid leave such as sick leave, vacation leave, holidays, military leave, compensatory time off, and administrative leave with pay. Overtime shall be reported and compensated on the basis of the nearest 1/4 hour. from [http://www.ucop.edu/humres/policies/spp32.html](http://www.ucop.edu/humres/policies/spp32.html)