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Mandatory Overtime

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My wife is working overtime every week for the last year, sometimes 20 to 30 hours a week, is there a law to prevent the type of sweatshop work???? My job requires me to be off 10 consecutive hours before I can go to the next working day. Why won’t the local government implement something like this for office personnel?

There is no federal law that limits the amount of overtime that an employer can require an employee over the age of 18 to work. Federal law, and most states, set limits on the work hours for employees under 18. There are a few states that limit overtime for certain occupations. For example, a nurse in Massachusetts can’t be required to work overtime if she feels that her exhaustion poses a risk to patients. But, these laws are few and far between.

 

In general, the law trusts each employee to set appropriate limits for himself or herself.

The question doesn’t specifically mention a state, which might make a difference.

California requires that employers pay time-and-a-half when an employee puts in more than 8 hours per day, or on the 7^th consecutive day of work.

California also requires that employers pay double-time after 12 hours per day, or after 8 hours on the 7^th day. However, the law doesn’t forbid mandatory overtime…it just makes it more expensive for employers.  

Overtime is considered a private matter between the employer and the employee, in most cases. There are many workers, including office workers, who would welcome the opportunity to boost their earnings by working 20 or 30 hours per week at time-and-a-half.

The regulations are different for truck drivers because having exhausted drivers on the road poses a threat to public safety. So, the regulations aren’t in place to protect the employees – they are in place to protect the other drivers. There are similar limits for airline pilots and workers in a few other industries.

OSHA does set limits on hours in a few occupations, for the employee’s physical safety.

Long workweeks are common in a number of occupations. On offshore oil rigs, employees often put in at least 12 hours per day, 7 days per week. That’s a standard 84-hour workweek, with some workers putting in more time. These are usually hourly positions, so the workers rack up a lot of overtime pay.

In some salaried occupations, it’s common to put in a lot of hours. Medical interns and residents often are required to work more than 100 hours per week. In the hospitality industry, 60 or 70 hour workweeks were not uncommon a decade or two ago, although many companies are moving away from that now. These workers get paid the same for 70 or 100 hours as they would for 40 hours.

If you believe that the state or local government should step in and forbid this much overtime, you are free to circulate a petition and try to get that law passed.

But consider this situation for a moment: Todd is a young, healthy, energetic 19-year-old with no family responsibilities who lives at home. He wants to work 70 hours per week for the next two years, to save money to finish college. Todd can work 10 hours per day, sleep 8 hours per day and still have 6 hours per day to watch TV or hang out with his friends. He wants to do that 7 days per week. Todd’s employer has more than enough work for him, and is delighted to pay Todd the overtime.

Would you really want the government to step in and say that these arrangements between Todd and his employer are not acceptable???

The employee in this question – your wife – is free to look for another job that involves little or no overtime, if she likes. Many office jobs involve working no more than 40 hous per week. It’s quite possible that such a job would pay less, but there are pluses and minuses to every position.