Need Some Advice

[Saris]

I've only been working for six years and have had three jobs, so I don't know much about business practices, but something at work lately has been bugging me and I need some extra opinions:

 

I've been working like mad the past two months, with about 50+ hours a week. When I got my paycheck two weeks ago, I was only paid for about 80 hours, and I thought that maybe there was a few days off in that 'pay period' which brought it down because I was just getting started. But I've been working 6, 8-10 hour shifts a week for the past two weeks and 6, 10-12 hour shifts before that. When I checked my paycheck today (which was paid on Thursday), it said I'd only worked 70 hours(the two weeks prior to my first paycheck I mentioned[6, 10-12hr shifts]) . So naturally, I took this up with the manager on shift today and this is where my problem is:

 

He said that there are caps on the amount of hours I work and that extra hours are "banked" - when I work two weeks and only put in, say, 50 hours, they will bump it up to 60/70/80 even though I only worked 50. This sounds fishy to me - has anyone worked any jobs where they do this? Isn't this an illegal workaround to paying me overtime that I earned? The guy I talked to is kind of second-in-command at the place, so if this is some conspiracy to gyp me on my pay, he might be in on it because we don't get along too well. I hope not because it's ridiculous trying to get a good job in this stupid city.

 

Can someone confirm this for me? Thanks.

 

EDIT: This is in Canada. I'm sure our work policies are mostly the same, but...

Edited July 28, 2008 by Saris

[Preacher]

My wife has something similar to this: She is a salary employee and makes $x and it's supposed to be for 80 hours per pay period. If she works over she can later use the hours that are banked. She also has several hourly employees under her but they get their overtime because that is the law.

 

If you are an "hourly" employee they must pay you your overtime on the paycheck covering that period. Now remember that I am talking about Missouri law, but most states here have similar employee rights protected under law and one of the most basic is the 40 hour work week with anything more being time and one half. I suggest you go to your boss and explain your discomfort with the policy and ask if it's within the law. I am not familiar with Canadian laws as I personally do not live in an igloo or hunt seals to make my clothing, so you'll have to ask a lawyer or Eskimo chieftain what the law is there

Edited July 28, 2008 by Preacher

[anonymo]

It depends on the contract you signed but a company banking your overtime hours without your permission while you are a hourly employee is wrong.

 

In Ontario the work week is 44 hours before overtime by law if you are a full time employee on a standard contract. After 44 hours every hour is considered to be worth 1.5 hours where the maximum you are legally allowed to work without a special contract with your employer co-signed by the government is 60 hours. If your company reports you working more than 60 hours in a work week they can be fined a maximum of $25,000 for the first offense (that might actually not be the first offense, I'm not 100% about it, it's just what my boss was fined last time lol).

 

Really you would have to explain the situation to me a little better. I assume you're a full time employee as there are different rules for full/part time employees.

 

Does your company use a punch system? If so do you have the records from those two weeks according to the punch system and do you have your own personal record of your hours?

 

My advice is never work more than 60 hours in a work week, you'll lose all your money to the tax man as rates are calculated on a per-pay basis and the only way to get that money back is through doing your taxes.

 

Also, some companies do not pay overtime, or pay only certain amounts of overtime with all excess overtime being converted to lieu time. Lieu time sucks as it pays your overtime out in time off, which is a complete waste in my opinion.

 

At the end of the day the overtime hours you have banked go directly to the company's investments, so by allowing them to bank your hours you are putting more money in their pockets for investments rather than your own.

 

I could probably explain things and get a better idea of your situation over the phone so if you want just PM me and we can discuss it.

[Playaa]

My girlfriends company sort of works this way. Any time she works over 40 hours in a week is automatically added to vacation time. She is a salaried employee though so I'm not sure if that's relevant to you if you are hourly.

[stutters]

in the us, i know that's illegal for non-seasonal hourly workers.

 

i've been under the impression that canada is some sort of anarchy, though, so i'm really not too sure.

[Saris]

I'm paid by the hour, technically part-time, non-seasonal, but for the past two months I have always gone over 40 hours. They do have a clock system, and time-in/out reports which I haven't looked at yet because they're buried somewhere in the office (I have my own record anyway). When the manager started explaining it to me, the first thing he said was, "I think I've already explained this to you," so I will ask other employees today if this was ever mentioned when they were hired because if its a contract, even verbal, I will live with it.

 

As for working over 60hrs some of those weeks, it was my choice, so I don't care about that.

 

So, if it does happen, my only concern is if it's a cheap way of getting around paying my overtime. But since I added some information, I will wait to see what some people still have to say before I confront my boss about it. Things are obviously hectic at work right now and I can't afford to be making trouble without a proper cause.

 

Oh, and we also eat the seals too. You should all come up and I'll make a mean seal stew.

[stutters]

if it's a company with american headquarters, file a grievance with human resources. if it's not, enjoy your national healthcare system and suck it up.

 

[[LaW]Maverick]

Saris, I'm fairly certain what your company is doing is illegal--I'd look up labor laws in your state (for instance, in Ohio, you'd type "Ohio hourly labor laws" in Google, and look it up to be certain--but I know when I was working hourly, they'd literally kick you out the door to get me out before I hit a minute of overtime so that they wouldn't have to pay it....even if they needed me. I mean, would they have done that if there was a legal work around so simple? I doubt it...

[stutters]

does canada have states?

[MrDuke]

does canada have states?

 

States of Sobriety, last I saw.

[Guest ApoK]

I've only been working for six years and have had three jobs, so I don't know much about business practices, but something at work lately has been bugging me and I need some extra opinions:

 

I've been working like mad the past two months, with about 50+ hours a week. When I got my paycheck two weeks ago, I was only paid for about 80 hours, and I thought that maybe there was a few days off in that 'pay period' which brought it down because I was just getting started. But I've been working 6, 8-10 hour shifts a week for the past two weeks and 6, 10-12 hour shifts before that. When I checked my paycheck today (which was paid on Thursday), it said I'd only worked 70 hours(the two weeks prior to my first paycheck I mentioned[6, 10-12hr shifts]) . So naturally, I took this up with the manager on shift today and this is where my problem is:

 

He said that there are caps on the amount of hours I work and that extra hours are "banked" - when I work two weeks and only put in, say, 50 hours, they will bump it up to 60/70/80 even though I only worked 50. This sounds fishy to me - has anyone worked any jobs where they do this? Isn't this an illegal workaround to paying me overtime that I earned? The guy I talked to is kind of second-in-command at the place, so if this is some conspiracy to gyp me on my pay, he might be in on it because we don't get along too well. I hope not because it's ridiculous trying to get a good job in this stupid city.

 

Can someone confirm this for me? Thanks.

 

EDIT: This is in Canada. I'm sure our work policies are mostly the same, but...

My father worked atleast 90+ hours a week during the winters because he would go to his original job (selling mobile homes) and then when he'd get home he would leave and plow driveways for atleast 10+ hours a day to help our neighborhood friends and he would like never get home to get any sleep. But because we live in OHIO (best state ever) we get pretty bad winters. So he would snowplow driveways and never get home and stuff. But once late March early May came around he wouldn't work near as hard.

[farmerisme]

But it does not sound like they would be screwing you out of overtime pay... if they add it onto future checks it would be as overtime right?

 

That being said I know they have laws in minnesota that it is illegal not to pay you overtime for overtime. If you are an hourly paid employee. Im sure that if they are a reasonably large company they are not breaking the law though. It would seem silly that they would be that far out of compliance and would be a huge financial risk to try and screw employees out of OT.

[Laz.e.rus]

Something to note: Here in the US it IS legal to, rather than pay OT, "bank" the hours against time off. It doesnt count towards pay, but rather towards vacation time etc that you can turn in later. This is a relatively new practice and Im sure there are provisions within a company's contracts and handbooks about it so you will not be surprised.

[Guest ApoK]

Something to note: Here in the US it IS legal to, rather than pay OT, "bank" the hours against time off. It doesnt count towards pay, but rather towards vacation time etc that you can turn in later. This is a relatively new practice and Im sure there are provisions within a company's contracts and handbooks about it so you will not be surprised.

OT though with gross pay works a lot different I believe in the workforce if that helps.

[Xterminator]

hey Saris

 

first of all i had no clue you're in guelph! that's awesome. I work in Cambridge but live in kitchener.

 

Your situation does sound interesting. At my company we have both salary workers and hourly. I'm hourly but for the salary people I know that they are paid X amount of dollars each week but they do get overtime after I believe 44hrs of work. I have the option of banking my overtime or having it paid out. I know mo doesnt like Lieu time but at least for me when my hours are banked, they're banked at a rate of 1.5 for each overtime hour so when it does get paid out, it works itself out in the end because I get more Lieu time then.

 

P.S what company do you work for If you dont mind me asking? you can pm me if you dont wanna post here.

Edited July 29, 2008 by Xterminator

[Guest ApoK]

hey Saris

 

first of all i had no clue you're in guelph! that's awesome. I work in Cambridge but live in kitchener.

 

Your situation does sound interesting. At my company we have both salary workers and hourly. I'm hourly but for the salary people I know that they are paid X amount of dollars each week but they do get overtime after I believe 44hrs of work. I have the option of banking my overtime or having it paid out. I know mo doesnt like Lieu time but at least for me when my hours are banked, they're banked at a rate of 1.5 for each overtime hour so when it does get paid out, it works itself out in the end because I get more Lieu time then.

 

P.S what company do you work for If you dont mind me asking? you can pm me if you dont wanna post here.

If it turns out anything like GM, etc. they might try and make you work like 39 hours when 40 hours a week you get no bonuses to as well. If at possible you can get help just ask my brother at jobalo85@yahoo.com because he works at a gym and he works I think a good 38 hours a week but I think there he needs 45 for bonuses and stuff. That I think might be the main reason.

[Saris]

Just got back from work. Thanks for all of the comments everyone, I read them all.

 

@Xterminator: I work for hospitality services in the university, mostly as a chef at Gryphs sports bar.

 

I talked with two employees today (boss left before I got there) and they said they weren't told about it either, but they did do it to them and they made good on paying the banked hours back later. Whether it was paid as OT or not, they couldn't remember :/

 

So, that's good enough for me, for now. I'll ask about it later when they pay back my banked hours if they're not paid as OT. Thanks for helping out everyone.

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and Mo, the taxes killed me indeed. They took about 25% of my pay. Apparently our progressive tax system has deemed me as "rich".

Edited July 29, 2008 by Saris

[anonymo]

Just got back from work. Thanks for all of the comments everyone, I read them all.

 

@Xterminator: I work for hospitality services in the university, mostly as a chef at Gryphs sports bar.

 

I talked with two employees today (boss left before I got there) and they said they weren't told about it either, but they did do it to them and they made good on paying the banked hours back later. Whether it was paid as OT or not, they couldn't remember :/

 

So, that's good enough for me, for now. I'll ask about it later when they pay back my banked hours if they're not paid as OT. Thanks for helping out everyone.

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and Mo, the taxes killed me indeed. They took about 25% of my pay. Apparently our progressive tax system has deemed me as "rich".

Ok so I think they are banking your hours (have to be at 1.5, make sure they don't 1:1 you). This is fine in the letter of the law, but generally they should ask you whether or not you want to bank them or have them paid out. For all I know your company does not pay out overtime hours but gives them to you as lieu time, which is fine if you work 40 hours every week all year, but if you don't then it's a complete waste.

[[LaW]Maverick]

Here in Ohio, at least, you can't get banked hours if you're not a full-time employee (I think you have to be on salary as well). Here they HAVE to pay you time and a half, and they have to do it on the period they owe it to you. At least, that's how it used to be.

 

Hope everything resolves itself just fine