Human Resource Blog

Mandatory Overtime

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How much notice does an employer need to give employees to do mandatory overtime?

In most states an employer need not give the employee any notice to work mandatory overtime. It is a best practice for the employer to give workers as much notice as possible to work overtime. However, that is not always possible, and it is not legally required.

Lets look at some examples.

Lauren works in a grocery store. They are understaffed and the manager puts her on next weeks schedule for 55 hours.

Todd works in a restaurant. He is scheduled to work 7 am to 3 pm. Todd\\\’s employer learns at noon that a large group is expected for dinner. He tells Todd at 12 noon that he must work until 8 pm.

Amelia is a hotel from desk clerk scheduled from 8 am to 4 pm. At 3:59 pm the front desk clerk who will be relieving Amelia calls to say that he is sick. He was scheduled to work alone. Amelia\\\’s employer can legitimately require that she work the 4 pm to midnight shift, as well.

Larry is a factory drill press operator. His regular shift is 9 am to 5 pm. He goes home afterwards. At 7 pm, Larrys boss calls him back in to work, because one of the other drill press operators went home sick. Larry must return to work and finish the shift, working until 1 am.

All of these cases involve mandatory overtime because the employee ends up putting in more than 40 hours in the payroll period. And, they are all entirely legal under federal law.

A very few states have laws that require employers to give advanced notice of overtime, but they are rare. Even in those states, there is usually an exception for unforseeable circumstances.