Not Getting Paid Overtime. Is This Illegal?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello, 

I am a new grad living in California who just got her first job at an LTACH. I work three 12 hr shifts a week. From my understanding, anything over 8hrs in a workday is OT pay. When I did my orientation I signed a paper agreeing to a pay rate of 42 hourly and OT pay rate of 63 hourly. On my paystub, all hrs worked are at the 42 hour rate. I talked to a couple of other employees and they say they never get OT pay. My understanding is the only way for an employer to get around OT pay for nurses is to hold a vote with all affected employees and for said nurses to agree to waive OT pay. I never voted on that or heard of such a vote occurring at my work place. Is this illegal? Should I contact the labor board? 

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
1 hour ago, AdobeRN said:

I don't think I ever worked a job - including non nursing type of jobs (clerical, retail, etc) in different states (Calif, NV, TX, OK, Hawaii) where if you worked over 8 hours in a day it was considered OT.  It has always been if you have worked over 40 hours in a week.  

California has staffing laws wherein if you are hired into an 8-hour shift position, you must be paid overtime if you work beyond those 8 hours. At a Kaiser facility I worked at last Spring, all nurses worked 8-hour shifts, and if we were short-staffed and a nurse agreed to work a 12, she got paid OT for those last 4 hours. 

A different Kaiser facility across town, the nurses all worked 12s and did not get OT. It's all about what the specific facility has arranged.

5 Votes
Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
20 hours ago, Okami_CCRN said:

Overtime pay in healthcare facilities is anything over 40 hours/week. Not 8 hours/day.

Even outside California, this is not true across the board. It has everything to do with what pay rule a nurse was hired into, which is usually specified in the job posting. There can be a pay rule that over 36 hours is OT. Or a pay rule that over 80 hours in a 2-week period is OT (meaning, a nurse can be scheduled 50 hours one week and 30 hours the second week, and it's not OT).

In California, if the pay rule is 8 hours, then anything over that is OT. Many facilities in California practice that. It's facility-specific.

3 Votes

Thank you all for your comments. I did some digging and this place never had an alternative work week vote, so I am not entirely sure if what they are doing is legal with that being said. I do not recall signing any exemption for overtime form and if I did I'm not sure it would be legal without the alternative work week vote. When I did orientation, I signed a paper that said my base pay would be $42 and overtime pay would be $63. Why would they include that if they would not being paying me overtime? I would appreciate if anyone has anymore input on the situation. 

1 Votes
3 hours ago, Jedrnurse said:

I can't imagine that any employer would post positions (12 hr shifts) that automatically had OT built in. (Baylor programs aside.)

My last nursing job (in California) paid overtime for anything over eight hours a day, and all full time clinical staff were scheduled for three, twelve-hour shifts weekly.

I get that it's hard to imagine. I'm not from California, and I assumed I was misunderstanding the situation until I actually got my first paycheck.

1 Votes
Specializes in school nurse.
1 minute ago, AnaBanana.RN said:

 When I did orientation, I signed a paper that said my base pay would be $42 and overtime pay would be $63. Why would they include that if they would not being paying me overtime? I would appreciate if anyone has anymore input on the situation. 

I would assume that means that your rate would increase if you picked up more time pushing you over a 40 hour week...

3 Votes
1 minute ago, Jedrnurse said:

I would assume that means that your rate would increase if you picked up more time pushing you over a 40 hour week...

I understand, but what is confusing to me is I know for a fact that in California if you work over 8hrs in a shift the rest is overtime. Now there are ways for healthcare companies to get around that. I know one way is if they hold an alternative workweek vote. I looked into it and this company did not do that. I am trying to figure out if there are also alternative legal ways for them to get around this law. 

1 Votes
5 minutes ago, AnaBanana.RN said:

 I signed a paper that said my base pay would be $42 and overtime pay would be $63. Why would they include that if they would not being paying me overtime?

Overtime is a possibility, even when it's not regularly scheduled.

1 Votes
2 minutes ago, AnaBanana.RN said:

I understand, but what is confusing to me is I know for a fact that in California if you work over 8hrs in a shift the rest is overtime. Now there are ways for healthcare companies to get around that. I know one way is if they hold an alternative workweek vote. I looked into it and this company did not do that. I am trying to figure out if there are also alternative legal ways for them to get around this law. 

I looked at the alternative work week database and since the building was bought by this company in 2013, their was never an alternative work week vote reported. 

1 Votes
Just now, AnaBanana.RN said:

I looked at the alternative work week database and since the building was bought by this company in 2013, their was never an alternative work week vote reported. 

You seem to have it well-set in your mind that you're being cheated. Just check with the proper authorities so you can move on.

 

10 Votes

Look in your employer handbook. Overtime is based upon the facility, not the state in most cases. The state has basic employment guidelines but facilities can alter those so long as they're within the guidelines from my understanding. For example, overtime in your facility may be over 40hrs/wk not 8 hrs/day, yet the state may specify OT as anything over 40 hrs/wk flat regardless of how many hours worked per day. If you received a handbook the answer should be there. If you can't find it, HR may be the best place to ask.

2 Votes

An employment attorney would probably tell you that the contents of that letter you signed that stated your pay rates would be what constitutes your agreement with the employer.  If you don't like the terms, then move on down the road.  It is as simple as that.  Use the energy that you are now expending to agonize over this to find a better employment situation.

6 Votes

Why not just ask HR?

 

 

6 Votes
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