How should unauthorized overtime be handled?

A prohibition against overtime work will not always protect you from overtime pay liability. An announcement that no overtime work will be permitted, or that overtime work will not be paid for unless authorized in advance, will not prevent an employee from recovering overtime pay for work that he/she is actually suffered or permitted to perform.

Suffered or permitted to work means that the employer knows or has reason to believe that an employee is continuing work off the clock and does nothing to prevent it. The time worked is work time and the employee must be paid overtime pay for it.

The rule is also applies to work performed away from the premises or the job site, or even at home. If an employer knows or has reason to believe that work is being performed, the employer must count the time as time worked.

In such cases, it is management's duty to exercise its control and to ensure that work is not performed if it does not want work to be performed. You cannot sit back and accept the benefits of employee labor without compensating employees for it. The mere promulgation of a rule or policy against such work is not enough. Management must make every effort to enforce the rule or policy against unauthorized overtime.

What can an employer do to reduce risk of unauthorized overtime? Taking these steps may help reduce liability for unauthorized overtime:

• Make sure that employees know their regular work hours;

• Establish and enforce timekeeping requirements;

• Require prior approval for work during meal periods or at home;

• Train supervisors to be vigilant and send people home, if necessary; and

• Document what work employees are doing.

Employers may discipline workers for violating no overtime mandates. However, they also must pay when there is notice that work actually has been performed.