Work Hours, Travel & O.T.

Occasionally I receive a call from an employee inquiring about whether or not his/her boss can dictate the number of hours worked and when overtime ("O.T.") applies.

Work Hours - there is no minimum or maximum number of hours an employee may be scheduled or asked to work. This is in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Missouri labor laws also require most employers to pay or compensate their employees for the number of actual hours worked.

Travel - generally, time spent commuting from home to the workplace is not work time. But time spent traveling during normal work hours as part of the job is considered work time and employees are entitled to be paid for this travel time. Such travel time will be taken into account as work time in determining whether employees have been paid the minimum wage.

Overtime - employers must pay at least one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay once overtime pay is in effect. Overtime pay begins once an employee works more than 40 hours in a work week rather than more than 8 hours in a work day. State and federal law does not allow employees to voluntarily waive their rights to overtime pay and accept straight time instead. Any employer that asks an employee to do so violates the law and employees should file a wage complaint.