Hi all!

I do not think my ex-employer paid me correctly for overtime worked. I had to clock in/out at the beginning of each work day, plus clock in/out for lunch when I was able to get away. Due to the extremely heavy work load, and then the firing of the my immediate superviser, taking a lunch was out of the question on many days in the last two weeks of my employment. (I was employed for only 4 weeks) The office manager knew of this situation and told me on several occasions that overtime was OK as long as it wasn't abused. On days when I could escape it was usually for just the amount of time it took to hit a fast food joint. I did clock in/out for lunch when I took any lunch breaks, even if it was just for 20 minutes to sit in my truck in the parking lot. On my Final Pay Calculation Sheet the total hours worked did not match up with the print-out of my time card that I had just printed out as it was the end of the pay period. I had no idea I was to be let go within the next 5 minutes. I was handed my "final" paycheck and told it had been calculated through the end of that day. Clearly this was not the case.

My question is this: Can an employer change your timecard to take reflect an hour taken for lunch when actual time taken was less than 1 hour or no lunch at all?

Yes but they are suppose to make you sign that you acknowledge that. By law they are required to give you at least a half hour break for every 6 hrs or more worked. My work makes us sign every punch that we punch in even a minute early.
How many hours a week did you work without the lunch hour time included?

The rule for lunch hours are different for each state.

The company may not deduct for lunch if you have worked the lunch hour you must be paid. This is a federal law under the FLSA Act. State cannot trump this law. They can ask that you take a lunch hour but if you work through it than you must be paid for doing so.

Arizona has no laws governing lunches or breaks.

In fact here is an answer from the Arizona FAQ section on their Dept of Labor website for the state of Arizona. It reflects the wording in the FLSA.

The question was "Does an Employee have to be paid for all hours worked?"

The answer was:
Yes. The minimum wage shall be paid for all hours worked regardless of the frequency of payment and regardless of whether the wage is paid on an hourly, salaried, commissioned, piece rate, or any other basis. If in any workweek the combined wages of an employee are less than the applicable minimum wage, the employer shall pay, in addition to sums already earned, no less than the difference between the amounts earned and the minimum wage as required under the Arizona Minimum Wage Act.

If you are not paid for the time worked and the lunch hours have been deducted you can file an unpaid wage claim for the wages unpaid. Keep a copy of your timesheet showing the times worked and not paid.

File a claim with the Arizona Department of Labor and use the timesheet copy for proof of time worked.

Welcome to the Industrial Commission of Arizona

Good Luck.

Shirley

If you work through lunch when their policy/rule is to not work through lunch they can let you go and find someone else.

In Texas an issue like this is handled by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and there is a limitation for how many days after employment ends that you can file a complaint. I would try to see if your state has something similar. But I cannot tell you more without knowledge of your state's laws.

First unless overtime was approved, no they do not have to pay it.

You needed to verify the work, they most likely assumed you merely failed to clock out for lunch

Not correct. It does not matter if overtime is approved or not if it is worked than it must be paid.

The company may disclipline for failure to follow rules or policies, but they still must pay for all time worked including unapproved overtime.

. What work-related activities are considered "work time" for which I must be paid?
Workers are often confused about what activities are considered "work" for which they must be paid, as opposed to activities for which the employer has no legal obligation to pay the employee.

The basic principle guiding "work time" is that an employee must be paid for any time spent on activities that are controlled by and that benefit the employer. This not only includes your regular "on-the-clock" work time, but also includes any "off-the-clock" time you spend performing job-related activities which benefit your employer. If your employer knows that you are doing work (or could have found out by looking), and lets you do it, your employer will be responsible for paying for your work time. Employers cannot "allow" you to work on your "own time."

With only a few exceptions, all time an employee is required to be at the premises of the employer is work time. All regular shift time is work time. This includes most "breaks" (if there are breaks), and "nonproductive" time (for example, time spent by a call center employee waiting for the phone to ring).

In addition, all time you spend performing work-related activities that the employer permits is work time, whether on your employer's premises or not, and whether "required" or not. Work done "at home" or at a place other than the normal work site is work, and the time must be counted as work time for which you are paid. "Voluntary" work is work, and the time must be counted. "Unauthorized" or "unapproved" work is work and must be counted (provided that the employer knows or should know it is being done and permits you to do it anyway). The employer is charged with controlling the work of its employees. If an employer does not wish you to perform work, it must keep you from working if it does not wish to pay for that work. An employer may not accept the benefit(s) of work performed by its nonexempt employees without counting the time in computing the employee's pay.

Any unclocked punches on a timecard must be corrected before payroll is run. If payroll is unsure than they must contact the employee or the supervisor and find out the correct hours worked.



Shirley

ANYWHERE I have ever worked overtime had to be approved and the answer was always NO unless they asked me to work over.

Can you please supply a link because all the labor links I have ever read say otherwise.

Companies do not allow you to work through lunch break because they can get in serious trouble for going against labor laws even if it is the employees choice to work through lunch break.

Employers are not required to give the other breaks through the day.

Not all states require lunch periods. Minors under 16 must have breaks per federal and some state laws.

California, Colorado, CT (does not apply to educational institutions), Delaware (with exemptions), Illinois, Ky, ME, MA, MN, NE, Nevada (employee may forfeit), NH (unless employee can eat while working, NM, NY , ND, OR, PA (farmworkers and minors), PR , RI (excludes health care or employer with fewer than 3 employees), TN, VT, WA, WV (unless employees can work while eating), and WI have meal provisions with some exceptions for adults.

The following states either have no law covering meal periods or they only have one for minors under 16.

AZ, AR, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, MD, MI, MS, MO, MT, NJ, NC, OH, PA (only minors and Farmworkers), SC, SD, TX, UT, VA, WY.

There is no federal law for Lunch periods or breaks unless you are under 16 and under the Child Labor Laws.

This is from the FLSA Website:

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overtime -- The Online Wages, Hours and Overtime Pay Resource


With only a few exceptions, all time an employee is required to be at the premises of the employer is work time. All regular shift time is work time. This includes "breaks" (if there are breaks), and "nonproductive" time (for example, time spent by a receptionist reading a novel while waiting for the phone to ring). In addition, all time spent by an employee performing work-related activities that the employer suffers or permits is work time, whether on premises or not and whether "required" or not. Work done "at home" or at a place other than the normal work site is work, and the time must be counted. "Voluntary" work is work, and the time must be counted. "Unauthorized" or "unapproved" work is work and must be counted (provided that the employer knows or should know it is being done and permits the employee to do it). It is the privilege and responsibility of the employer to "control the work" of its employees. If an employer does not wish an employee to perform work, it must prohibit the employee from doing so if it does not wish to include that work time in the required FLSA pay computations. An employer may not accept the benefit(s) of work performed by its nonexempt employees without counting the time in computing pay due under the FLSA. Important FLSA regulations on these points are at 29 CFR §§785.11, 785.12, and 785.13.

The statute is listed after the points. It is the DOL stand that if the employee works he must be paid. If the employer doesn't want him to work that he must make sure he does not. This is the supervisor's job, tell the employee to go to lunch and make sure he does or if he works through lunch send him home early.

If an employee works through lunch and files a complaint with DOL I can almost guarantee that he will be paid for the time.

Shirley

Yes minors must have lunch breaks

I know anywhere I ever worked in Pa they said they are required to give a 30 minute lunch break for anything over 6 hours and they refuse to pay. If you do not punch out they make you sign a paper stating they are not paying you for the lunch break. If you work through and expect pay they will let you go.

Sory I don't now