(Section of the NC Hours Worked And Mandatory Overtime Labor Law)

There are no wage and hour laws that limit the amount of hours that a person 18 years of age or older can work either by the day, week, or number of days in a row, or that require breaks for employees 16 years of age or older. An employer is free to adjust the hours of its employees regardless of what the employees are scheduled to work. For example: To avoid having to pay time and one-half overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek that is Sunday through Saturday, an employer could adjust the hours of an employee who has already worked 34 hours by the end of a Thursday by requiring that the employee work only six hours on Friday and not work on Saturday at all regardless if the schedule had called for this employee to work eight hours on Friday and Saturday. Also, this may be done regardless if the employee agreed to this or not. An employer can make the scheduling or rescheduling of its employees hours worked as a condition of employment.

The rules are the same for a large corporation or a small mom-and-pop business. Neither the N. C. Wage and Hour Act nor the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) limit the amount of hours that an employee 18 years of age or older can be required to work either by the day, week, or number of days in a row. There are no limitations on how many hours an adult employee can be required to work regardless whether they are a salaried-exempt employee or a non-exempt employee. The employer is only required to pay time and one-half overtime pay based on an employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek to its non-exempt employees. There is no limit on the number of hours the adult employee may be required to work.

The decision to work employees in eight-hour shifts, 12-hour shifts, 16-hour shifts, etc., is entirely up to the employer. The decision to call an employee back in to work on a scheduled day off is entirely up to the employer. An employer can make the working on a scheduled day off or working a full shift as a condition of employment regardless of an employee’s start-time or end-time. An employer can make the working of overtime hours as a condition of employment. Since an employer can make the working of overtime mandatory, the employer can terminate an employee if the employee refuses to work overtime regardless of how many hours the employee has already worked that day or workweek. The employer does not have give its employees any advanced notice of having to work extra hours. An employer can inform its employees that they have to work overtime at the last minute. The employer does not have to take into consideration how the work schedule will affect an employee’s personal life.

Too many companies in NC use this clause to bully their employees because they know they are protected under this unjust situation. One anonymous workplace makes certain employees work up to and 18+ hr shifts promising them a day off only to be told at the last minute that they are expected to come back in (for whatever reason) less than 8 hours to work again. All this is being done in under a 48 hour window. They make it mandatory and "let everyone know " that if they don't comply then they are subject to termination for insubordination. This is a dangerous situation for all employees affected by these rules.

North Carolina workers currently have no rights or protections to defend them from unjust violations of workers' rights. This problem is particularly discriminatory to single, working parents who have much less schedule flexibility. I believe there can be a more fair compromise in this situation that benefits all involved. I believe that any hours after a "scheduled" shift should be optional. That alleviates the ability of employers to abuse their powers. It also leaves the security of the job for the employee. If the employee wants more hours, then the option is there. If not they can't be forced to put themselves in harms way for fear of losing said job. We need to change this to protect all employees in this difficult economic time.