Question about labor law

[NeuralNetwork]

Hey guys, I'm actually a pre-medical student, but I currently work at a privately owned veterinary hospital. I was wondering if any of you guys know what the labor laws were specifically for this type of practice when involving overtime compensation. I personally do not work overtime, but many of my coworkers regularly work 10 hrs but don't get compensated for OT.

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[bunnity]

Depends on the state as far as I know.
For example, in PA if you worked 4 10-hour days a week you would not get any overtime. In Alaska, you would get 8 hours of overtime with that schedule.
It also depends if people are working for hourly wage or salaried.

Your friend can look up the laws in whatever state they live in. Working in a vet practice doesn't have any special laws that are different from any other job.

 

[Trematode]

Also can depend on management.
For example, you have to work X number of hours in 15 days in order to qualify for time and a half on holidays here. I worked at one store where we got time and half regardless of how many hours we worked in the last 15 days and at another store who went by the labour laws.

 

[orcagirl]

In my experience in AZ you get paid overtime when you work over 40 hours in one week (7 days regardless of how many you work) regardless of how many hours you work in a day. Right now I work between 9.5 to 10.5 hours a week in a single day. It wouldn't make sense for them to give me overtime based on that.

 

[Megascops Asio]

In my experience in AZ you get paid overtime when you work over 40 hours in one week (7 days regardless of how many you work) regardless of how many hours you work in a day. Right now I work between 9.5 to 10.5 hours a week in a single day. It wouldn't make sense for them to give me overtime based on that.

I was told by the Attorney General in AZ when I lived there that it was completely legal for my boss to require her employees to stay at work over night (sometimes multiple nights in a row) as long as she adequately paid us for the hours we were there. I wish I was joking when I said that she kept two fold out cots in our office for us. Also worth noting: this wasn't any kind of medical related job. We were her website photographers and design staff. Why she needed us to stay 36-48hrs at work in order to maintain a website was beyond me. All we knew was that if we didn't stay she'd fire us in a heartbeat. Yeeeeah, I didn't stay with her company for long....

 

[Dsmoody23]

I was told by the Attorney General in AZ when I lived there that it was completely legal for my boss to require her employees to stay at work over night (sometimes multiple nights in a row) as long as she adequately paid us for the hours we were there. I wish I was joking when I said that she kept two fold out cots in our office for us. Also worth noting: this wasn't any kind of medical related job. We were her website photographers and design staff. Why she needed us to stay 36-48hrs at work in order to maintain a website was beyond me. All we knew was that if we didn't stay she'd fire us in a heartbeat. Yeeeeah, I didn't stay with her company for long....

That honestly sounds kind of fun.

I'd definitely take a paycheck for sleeping on a cot.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Also a lot of labor laws only apply to larger employers above a certain size (which laws and how many many employees = large varies by state).

Basically, you are on your own on this one.

 

[NeuralNetwork]

This is California, if that helps anyone. And like I said, I personally am not benefiting from this - my coworkers are the full time employees who work over 8hrs per day at times. Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[redhorse]

Contact:
California Labor & Workforce Development Agency
800 Capitol Mall, MIC-55
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 653-9900

Should be able to answer or direct you.

 

[lostbunny]

At my old job we had 12 hour shifts that were either day or overnight shifts. If you worked overnight you got an extra $0.25 or something, otherwise 12 hours in the day was normal pay.

If you worked more then X hours in 2 weeks, then you were granted overtime, and I think if you worked some odd shift like a morning shift, then came back for an overnight (7am - 3pm, then 11pm - 7am) you got overtime- but this only happened if you took someone elses' shift and had to be "approved" by managers.

The vet techs in emergency had a roster where they were scheduled overnights for a whole month.... so they'd often go pale in the winter and cringe at the sight of other human beings besides the 5 or 6 they worked with each night.

The hospital was privately owned, but somehow got around the 12 hour shift thing using contracts. Also, you'd often have varied shifts like 3 twelve hour days on, 3 days off; or have 4 days of shorter shifts (8 or 10h) then have less time off. At one point, the staff tried to instill a Union, but the Union was voted out and everyone who voted "Yes" for a union was hunted down and fired.

I guess the point is, the laws vary between states (and obviously countries.. my example is from Canada)- but its not abnormal to not be paid over time, and I guess it really depends what is considered overtime.

 

[bdrensch]

As far as I know, it only applies to more than 40 hours in a week. I'm not sure of all states though.

 

[jemappellejane]

not to beat a dead horse but New York State is the same as most- overtime only applies to over 40 hours per week. That's only if you are hourly. If you're salary, it doesn't apply. A lot of the workers at my vet clinic choose to work 4 ten hour days.

 

[StartingoverVet]

a quick search of web gives you all the answers you need.
"overtime labor laws california"
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtime.htm
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_OvertimeExceptions.htm

10 hours a day 4 days a week is a permmited alternative

 

[NeuralNetwork]

a quick search of web gives you all the answers you need.
"overtime labor laws california"
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtime.htm
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_OvertimeExceptions.htm

10 hours a day 4 days a week is a permmited alternative

You would think a quick search would do it in this case, but for this situation I have been researching it for a couple weeks and actually know about all the different alternative workweeks. The reason I am still unsure is because I heard there is something specific about veterinary practices (possible 12 hr shifts with or without a contract), but the only site that gives information about that is the CVMA (which requires membership).

 

[Minnerbelle]

You would think a quick search would do it in this case, but for this situation I have been researching it for a couple weeks and actually know about all the different alternative workweeks. The reason I am still unsure is because I heard there is something specific about veterinary practices (possible 12 hr shifts with or without a contract), but the only site that gives information about that is the CVMA (which requires membership).

It seems like in CA, you have to get overtime for 8+ hours of work for most employees EXCEPT for vet staff (including uncertified vet assistants). So as long as they're not working 12+ hours/day or 40 hrs/wk, it's totally legit. The following is from the CVMA.
http://www.wilkefleury.com/articles/kennaday-californiaadopts

 

[NeuralNetwork]

It seems like in CA, you have to get overtime for 8+ hours of work for most employees EXCEPT for vet staff (including uncertified vet assistants). So as long as they're not working 12+ hours/day or 40 hrs/wk, it's totally legit. The following is from the CVMA.
http://www.wilkefleury.com/articles/kennaday-californiaadopts

Very interesting, this looks like what I heard. Thanks for pointing me to this definitive article, I have been looking for something like that for a while. Now the question here is, what happens when the owner of the practice does not have you sign any documents for an alternative workweek and simply says anything up to 12hrs is not overtime? What happens if you just cover someones shift and are not on an OT schedule? Are there rules for smaller practices? We have a total of <10 employees including the Dr.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Very interesting, this looks like what I heard. Thanks for pointing me to this definitive article, I have been looking for something like that for a while.

It sounds like googling may not be your strong point

"California Overtime Veterinary" and BOOM! first hit

Now the question here is, what happens when the owner of the practice does not have you sign any documents for an alternative workweek and simply says anything up to 12hrs is not overtime? What happens if you just cover someones shift and are not on an OT schedule? Are there rules for smaller practices? We have a total of <10 employees including the Dr.

Are you asking out of curiosity, or are you feeling slighted at your workplace (or as you say, feeling slighted for your co-workers) for one reason or another due to the work hours? It kinda sounds like the latter. If you have a problem with certain things, why don't you just go to the practice manager or the owner and have a civil discussion about it? But only do so if it's something that actually really bothers you and inconveniences you.

Especially in small businesses, there are very few places that follow the minutia of every labor law (or OSHA, or whatever) to a T. Just nitpicking anything and everything that a practice could be doing wrong would be just plain annoying. Of course there are things that just cannot be ignored (e.g. not getting a paycheck when you're supposed to, not getting overtime when you're supposed to, etc...), and that kind of thing needs to be dealt with promptly.

 

[Megascops Asio]

That honestly sounds kind of fun.

I'd definitely take a paycheck for sleeping on a cot.

Well, the big problem was actually getting the paycheck. While it was legal for her to keep us there as long as she paid adequately....those paychecks always seemed to come "late"...either that or the overtime hours were "spread out" over other paychecks, aka she would fill in the weeks where we had no overtime with those hours as to avoid paying the time and a half (which I was told was illegal). Not to mention the monthly staff meeting where she would yell and scream (and I don't mean that lightly) about over time!

 

[NeuralNetwork]

It sounds like googling may not be your strong point

"California Overtime Veterinary" and BOOM! first hit



Are you asking out of curiosity, or are you feeling slighted at your workplace (or as you say, feeling slighted for your co-workers) for one reason or another due to the work hours? It kinda sounds like the latter. If you have a problem with certain things, why don't you just go to the practice manager or the owner and have a civil discussion about it? But only do so if it's something that actually really bothers you and inconveniences you.

Especially in small businesses, there are very few places that follow the minutia of every labor law (or OSHA, or whatever) to a T. Just nitpicking anything and everything that a practice could be doing wrong would be just plain annoying. Of course there are things that just cannot be ignored (e.g. not getting a paycheck when you're supposed to, not getting overtime when you're supposed to, etc...), and that kind of thing needs to be dealt with promptly.

I'm asking because the idea of it bothers me...but the loss of money probably bothers my coworkers more who never really questioned it until now. I have brought this up to my boss and he said that up to 12 hrs in a day can go without overtime. However it looks like you need a signed contract for an alternate work week and it definitely doesn't apply to some people who only occasionally cover a 10 hr shift. I'm printing out the legal document to my coworker, and I am telling her the pros and cons of confronting him about it and letting her decide since this doesn't affect me directly.