Are you confused about your right to overtime pay? If so, you may be needlessly giving up important legal rights.

Almost every CT has an established work schedule, usually from 8 to 5 with a one-hour lunch, Monday through Friday. To change that schedule, your supervisor must notify you at least one day prior to your two consecutive days off (for most, that’s by Thursday at 5 p.m.). 

Under our Contract, if you do not receive advance notification of that change, you have the right to overtime pay, even if you don’t exceed 40 hours in that work week. In this regard, the CTU contract provides more than the law.

For example, if you are asked to work late on a Monday evening and told to "just come in late tomorrow morning," you have the right to insist on being paid overtime, because of the lack of proper notification. If you wish to use compensatory time, you may. But don’t be coerced into giving up your right to overtime pay. Comp time taken in lieu of overtime pay must be mutually agreed upon between the parties.

Make sure that your supervisor knows when you will be working overtime and not just volunteering time for the department. If your supervisor knows you are working overtime and does not tell you to stop, you are entitled to payment. [Jean L. Tomlian]

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime must be paid after 40 hours in a work week. Our Contract goes beyond the law by including sick time, vacation or other paid time off in the 40-hour week. In other words, you can’t be made to work straight time on Saturday because you called in sick on Monday.

Your department can’t make you take comp time instead of overtime pay. However, you may choose to accept comp time, which must be taken at time-and-a-half unless you agree to take straight time within the same work week.

If your supervisor advises you differently, contact your Union Rep or the CTU office at 355-1903.

Sometimes, CTs give away their time because it is difficult for them to leave important tasks undone. Since there’s no extra money in the budget to hire additional staff, they feel obligated. Other times, individuals are afraid of not keeping up. Besides, who is harmed if a CT decides to give up breaks?

The consequences of working with- out pay are clear to URs serving in the districts. 

The first thing URs usually notice is that once a CT begins to give away time, the department comes to expect it. Rather than catching up, the CT may actually receive more work.

Sometimes the CT keeps his or her head down and continues to plow through. Frequently, however, the resulting stress results in resentment, decreased productivity and/or illness.

Another consequence is that supervisors may start comparing coworkers to the CT who is giving away time, pressuring them to do additional work or show the same "dedication." This causes resentment between coworkers and eats away at workplace morale.

If these sound like management problems, you’re right. Supervisors should guard against these consequences by making sure that employees work only the hours for which they are paid, that work is evenly distributed, and that employees receive all appropriate breaks. However, supervisors sometimes get caught up in the immediate bottom line.

Take a look at how much a CT may unwittingly give away to a department in a year simply by skipping breaks. Two 15-minute breaks a day add up to 130 hours a year. Subtract 20 hours to cover holidays, vacation and miscellaneous absences. Multiply the remaining 110 hours by the hourly rate of $15 and you have donated $1,650.