Legal Question in Employment Law in New York

Terms of hire changed without official notification

In my department overtime has always been on a voluntary unrequired basis.

Two new managers were hired, the office is now running 24/7 and we just received an email indicating that we are now required to do overtime to cover all the shifts. When we were hired, we were not told that overtime was required. In fact, the dept director said that he wants his employees to be able to go home at the end of their work day. He also said that this was an environment that encourages its employees to have outside non-work related interests.

Here's part of what our manager sent to us via email:

''Ongoing holiday coverage and coverage for unexpected or scheduled days off for other members of the team, especially weekend and overnight, will always be necessary and everyone's cooperation is needed and appreciated.'' AND

''With 11 holidays and with 3 shifts per holiday (all holidays for non-5-day shift people are floating holidays), the attached list identifies the time slots that we'll need coverage for. Everyone is expected to cover approximately 3 to 4 of the time slots on the attached list.''

Thank you for your advice.


Asked on 12/27/06, 10:27 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark S. Moroknek Kelly & Curtis, PLLC.

Re: Terms of hire changed without official notification

This is improper, as you seem to realize. While it is okay to foster competition and cooperation, your employer seems to be trying to force unpaid overtime on its employees, a violation of the FLSA (fair labor standards act.) If you would like to discuss this, let me know.

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Answered on 12/27/06, 4:43 pm


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