Is it possible for an employee to work 45 hours one week and 35 hours the following week (with the 2nd Friday off) without having to pay the employee overtime for the first week?

It's a consideration for our company, and I don't want to steer anyone the wrong way.

Thanks!

A lot will depend on how many hours your contracted for, and if your paid weekly or monthly.
If an employee has worked more than their contracted hours per week, then they are entitled to over-time rate for those hours.

If employees are paid monthly, and their overall hours are within the contracted hours,
Then they will have their normal pay, however if their hours exceed their contracted hours over the month, then they will be intitled to over-time rate, depending on the legalities, laid out by their contract.

Most company contracts usually add a clause at the end, stating that... Managment reserve the right to change or alter items at their discresion.

Therefore it's not worth the paper it's written on.

Thanks for the response!

The employees are paid bi-weekly, which is why I said we are shooting for 80 hrs.

Someone said it would violate the Fair Labor Standards Act if they choose to work 45 hours and are not paid overtime (since the extra hours will be credited the following week to their time).

Non exempt hourly employees must be paid for all hours worked over 40 in any one week per the FLSA.

Exempt employees do not work by the hour but by the job so it would have no revelence.

Employment contracts cannot void the FLSA, it must be conformed to . The employee does not have the right to waive the overtime on the week he is working over. This schedule is not going to work with non exempt hourly employees.

You can find the FLSA and a short page explaining it on the U.S. Department of Labor Site. You can find answers to your FLSA questions on the site:

Compliance Assistance By Law - The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)


Shirley

This is not a exact plain answer, but it can depend on the state, ( as state over time laws vary) and even what type of jobs, since some jobs are even exempt from overtime laws, police, correction officers and many others. As are many very small firms in some states.
But also you can determine to make it work often, what is a work week, a pay week does not have to be Monday though Friday, you can make a work week Wednesday though Wednesday if this will allow you to have less overtime during a weekly period.

The PDF on the Website I sent in an earlier post will explain all the exemptions such as firefighters, health care workers, policemen. They are all in the presentation.

State laws do not trump federal laws on the FLSA unless they are better for the employee. No state law can say that you do not have to pay overtime if the employee is entitled to the overtime.

Very few state laws address it and instead will refer you to the FLSA at the U.S. DOL site. One that does address it is California and they are more in favor of the employee than other states with Washington state running a close second.

Florida and Ohio do not even have a Department of Labor office they disbanned it and set up separate offices. Good luck finding answers to state laws in those two states and Iowa just has links to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Florida is employer friendly as California is employee friendly.

Shirley