Permanent Mandatory Overtime?

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All year long my department has been swamped with more work than we can handle. Rather than hire enough workers for our workload, they've decided to instigate mandatory overtime. Everybody has to put in at least eight extra hours a week or face disciplinary action. This means I'm either going to have to eat up all my free time working from home or start taking one-day weekends. I'd be fine with this if it was temporary, but my bosses have said that things will be this way "for the foreseeable future" which pretty much means they're patting themselves on the backs as geniuses and aren't going to change it. Is this something we should have to put up with?

Sadly it is legal federally for them to mandate overtime, however they are required to pay overtime at least if you work more than 40 hours in a week. Some states have specific and different rights however so the best thing is to contact your state labor board and confirm with them if overtime is allowed to be mandatory.

I already know it's legal for them to do mandatory overtime. They give it to use every December during the holiday rush. I'm asking, is "mandatory overtime every day till forever" something everyone has to deal with no matter where they work, or is it just a crappy excuse from my managers to keep from having to hire more workers?

You're free to walk out the door.

If you have been diagnosed with autism and have a supportive doctor, you can request a shift of "only" 40 hours a week as necessary for your health. It might fly.

A lot of neurotypicals like working overtime because it increases their income. So you might not get much support from your co-workers.

Probably both.

We have the same thing here...we keep taking on more and more jobs, even though we don't have the machinery, the manpower, the materials, or the space to keep up.

Every time it looks like we're slowing down, we end up back on mandatory 10s (and sometimes Saturday).

I'm trying to hang on, but I know I won't last too many more years before I have to give up and file for disability.

I can't walk out the door unless I find another equally good job, which in this city is almost impossible. I'm looking for one, but I've been looking for months now and haven't found anything to apply to once. And I have a lease on an apartment so I can't move. And Arkansas is a right to work state, so if I start using that as an excuse my managers will likely throw my what my coworkers like to call a "box party."

Ooo ... where do I sign up?

What sort of job do you have?

Are you "exempt" in the sense that the company is "exempt" from having to pay you time-and-a-half for any time worked over 40 hours/week?

It's an office job. I work at the Walmart home office. And yeah, they pay us time and a half. It's just that, while I don't hate the idea of earning more money, I do hate the idea of being forced to do it so that it eats up all my free time and I never get the chance to just sit down and relax. It's get up, do overtime, go to work, go home, do more overtime, go to bed, repeat. Either that or only have one day off every week.

This is the sort of thing you really need to discuss with your "significant other."
But, if was young and between relationships, I'd just work the overtime.

Nowadays I've done so much saving I don't really need the money.

What the hell? What significant other?

I know people who would KILL to have this sort of "mandatory overtime."

At least you're earning more----so you can do more stuff on your "downtime."

Would you be able to come in one hour early, and leave one hour later, each day?

What good is having more money for down time if they're actively taking away all my down time? And no, I can't stay late. The managers decided it's too much hassle staying in the office to watch over us, so we all have to go home for overtime.

That's a little better. At least you don't have a supervisor watching over you while you're home.

I know this is a pain in the butt....but you’ll adjust.

What did you expect when you signed on for a relatively high paying job at Walmart?

Yes, you won't have time to enjoy the extra money now. You should save it so that when your lease is up, you will have the option of moving to another city to find a better situation.