You don’t prefer to work on the weekends, but sometimes your boss asks you if you can come in on a Saturday or a Sunday to make sure everything gets caught up before the next work week begins. If you agree to do it, do you deserve overtime pay?
It depends. Legally speaking, the U.S. Department of Labor notes that overtime is only required if you put in more than 40 hours during the week. They directly note that you do not automatically get overtime pay for weekend work. You also do not automatically get it on standard rest days or holidays.
That said, if you put in extra hours by working on those other days, then you are entitled to higher pay. For instance, maybe you have already put in five eight-hour days when your boss asks you to come in on Saturday. If you do, you could now work eight hours of overtime. However, if you had Friday off and you’re only at 32 hours for the week, you don’t get overtime pay for eight hours on Saturday because working that shift just brings you to the standard total of 40 hours per week.
Naturally, you also want to check your employee handbook. Some companies have policies stating that employees should earn more for weekend work. Companies have to honor those policies, regardless of the federal regulations.
Do you think that your employer has been ripping you off and not paying you properly for extra hours that you worked? It’s a frustrating problem, and you need to know all of the legal options you have.