If some of your responsibilities at your job in Missouri involve being on call, you may have to put certain aspects of your life on hold so that you can be available at a moment's notice. Should your employer have to pay you for this disruption? The answer is not necessarily clear-cut.
Should you get paid for working during your lunch break?
Although Missouri does not require employers to provide lunch breaks to employees, yours does, and taking that half hour off the clock to sit down in the break room and eat your meal is a perk you appreciate. Your supervisor typically pops in with questions about your work, a client or some other issue, and the two of you may spend some or all of the time that you are eating in discussion. Is that fair, or even legal?
How does time clock rounding work?
You may have worked for employers in Missouri in the past that kept an accurate, to-the-minute time clock. However, at your current job, your time is rounded to the nearest quarter hour. Is that legal?
When you are asked to work off the clock
We have covered many of the different ways in which overtime violations manifest in the workplace, whether they affect younger workers or those who are paid a salary. However, there are many other considerations with regard to overtime violations that occur far too often in Missouri and cannot be overlooked. For example, some workers may be asked or pressured to work off the clock in order to prevent their work week from exceeding 40 hours. In some cases, even part-time workers are asked to work off the clock regardless of overtime, simply to avoid paying workers what they are owed.
Commission income must be included when calculating overtime pay
The opportunity for overtime in the workplace can be great motivator for employees to work extra hours. But for employee’s receiving commission pay, overtime compensation may not be correctly calculated. When employers miscalculate overtime pay for commission employees, workers miss out on considerable income.
