Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 10/26/2010 - 09:52
I'm not an exempt employee so I should qualify for overtime pay in Massachusetts. Last month I was given an assignment to do by my boss and while working on the project I worked 50 hours in one week. I told my boss I would like overtime pay for the time and she said I couldn't get it because I did not have permission to work the overtime. I know I'm not suing anyone over this and I don't want to make waves at work but I was wondering if the company can refuse to pay the overtime based on it's policy or requiring prior authorization for overtime pay. I did the work right? Thank you.
overtime pay for unapproved hours in MA
Since you are sure of your non-exempt status, I won't discuss the issue of whether an employee is exempt for overtime pay purposes. However, the issue you raise is interesting and, I believe, unsettled. I do not know if the issue has been addressed in Massachusetts, but I do know there was a recent federal appeals court decision out of the 2nd circuit (not our circuit and, therefore, not binding on Massachusetts courts) that held that an employer must pay its workers time and one-half for overtime, even if the employee failed to satisfy the employer's policy of obtaining prior approval of all overtime hours. If you are interested, the case is Chao v. Gotham Registry, Inc. 514 F.3d 280 (2nd Cir. 2008). Sorry I can't offer more information. I guess the one thing you can learn from this situation is that, in the future, you should get your manager's permission to work overtime hours before putting in the time. Good luck.