In the majority of jobs, a person deserves overtime pay when they work over 40 hours a week or meet other conditions set by law. Of course, the time they’re clocked in matters, but if they don’t clock in on time and are working before they do or if they clock out and then get pulled aside to finish additional work, they should be paid for that time, too.
As an employee, you need to be careful about how much you work and to be clear about the hours you’ve spent on the job. Once you hit 40 hours in a single week, you should be looking at receiving overtime on your paycheck.
Could your employer be skirting overtime with unpaid hours?
You should never work before or after you clock in or out of your place of employment unless the manager or supervisor is going to adjust the timeclock for you.
For example, if you get to work at 6:45 a.m. and your shift starts at 7 a.m., there may be a rule that you cannot clock in until 6:55 a.m. If someone approaches you and asks you to start working when you get there, you should not begin until 6:55 a.m. and after you’ve clocked in. If you start early, ask your manager to adjust your time. If they will not, then that could be a violation of employment law.
Many people get caught off-guard with this kind of issue at the end of the day. They may clock out, but then an urgent matter comes up. If that happens to you, take the time to clock back in. If you don’t, submit a request for the time to be added to your pay.
You deserve full pay and overtime when they’re earned
If you don’t see the overtime you’ve worked on your paycheck, then you need to say something. Keep track of the time you’ve worked as well as hours you’ve worked without clocking in or out. You could see that you deserve a larger paycheck than what you’ve received in the past and that you deserve additional compensation for past work.
