Overtime Rules Vary for Non-Standard Workweeks

Question: Our shop is on a 10-hour workday, Monday through Thursday, with Friday off. Recently, I was off on a Tuesday for three hours in order to keep a doctor's appointment. On Friday of the same week, I worked eight hours of overtime. When I received my paycheck, I was paid 40 hours of straight time and only five hours of time and a half. Should I have to work overtime for straight-time pay?

--R.G., Long Beach

Answer: The application of the wage and hour laws to non-standard workweeks like yours varies, depending upon the type of business that employs you. Some employers must pay overtime for any hours worked on the fifth day of a four-day workweek composed of 10-hour days. Others are not required to do so. To find out which rules apply to your employer, contact the local office of the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement at (714) 558-4111.

--Calvin House, attorney, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., Adjunct professor, Western State University College of Law

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Question: I worked for nearly five years as a truck driver and I injured my back while on the job. I filed a workers' compensation case in 1992. My company sent me the paperwork to terminate my pension/profit-sharing plan, dated back to the date of the injury, which I signed for my check to be sent this year. Would this action be considered grounds for illegal job termination or was that just the termination of my benefits to the pension/profit-sharing plan?

--G.B., Buena Park

Answer: Simply terminating plan benefits does not necessarily mean that you have been terminated from your job. Often, employers may terminate the plan for all of its employees or may have extended to you the option to terminate it prior to the termination of your job, resignation or retirement.

It seems very strange that they would terminate it, however, as of the date of your injury. There are laws that prohibit retaliation against an employee because of a workplace injury. Such retaliation could be your termination, demotion or the loss of some benefits. The deadline for filing a claim for such improper action is one year from the date it was done.

As a practical matter, the easiest thing for you to do would be to simply call or write your employer and ask for clarification of your job status. Ask them about the reason for the termination of your pension/profit-sharing plan. If they fail to respond, send them a certified letter asking for your lawful right to inspect your employee file. Perhaps the file will contain documentation answering your questions.