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Minnesota Bank Overtime

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In Minnesota, can a supervisor legally require a bank branch Assistant Manager to work 6 or 7 days per week, 8 hours per day? In the past, the Assistant Manager has always had 2 days off every week. If so, is the Assistant Manager entitled to a raise?

An employer in Minnesota is entirely within his or her legal rights to demand that employee work this amount of time. The employer could require the employee to work 12 hours or more a day, 7 days a week, for many months in a row. It has been done.

The short answer to the question, then, is “yes.” Only a very few states limit the numbers of hours an employer can make an employee to work – provided, of course, that the worker is over 18 years of age.

Employers are under no obligation to offer more money when they increase an employee’s hours or responsibility. They may also – and often do – change working conditions, and on a frequent basis. It would be good if employers compensated accordingly, but it is not necessary.

There are a few states that have passed laws requiring employers to give their workers one day off a week, but those rules usually do not apply to the salaried worker, only to hourly wage earners.

The number of overtime hours that people in certain occupations can work has been limited in some states. For example, in Massachusetts, it is illegal to require nurses to work overtime. The federal government, through the Department of Transportation, has safety standards that make it illegal for long-haul truck drivers to work in excess of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days.

Employers must abide by both state and federal overtime laws, however, provided the employee is not “salaried exempt.” A “salaried exempt” worker is one who is not covered by overtime laws. It appears that in this case, the employee falls into the “salaried exempt” category and thus is not legally entitled to overtime. If the employee were not on salary, but on a wage, then the employer would have to pay “time-and-a-half.”

Not every manager or executive is necessarily salaried exempt, however. The manager or executive must supervise 3 or more workers. They would have the right to hire or fire without consultation. They must also have the responsibility of making important decisions. JH