Legal Question in Employment Law in Texas

That is a difficult situation because the company wants to have its cake and eat it too. Either they need the staff to perform the work or they need to pay for the overtime.

Your wife should not be working off the clock, ever. She is entitled to pay--and it seems overtime pay--for the time worked off the clock. She needs to talk to her manager about how the work is going to be completed and whether they want her to complete the work on the clock or go home with the work unfinished. She can also file a wage claim to recover pay for the work she has already performed off the clock. That is something that an employment lawyer like myself could help with.

As a practical matter, it sounds like your wife is going to bear the burden of the staffing decisions by either losing pay by working off the clock or by losing pay in the future on a bad performance review. Personally I think it is better to get paid today for work performed than hope for more money in the future, especially from an employer that has already signaled that it has poor management and staffing practices. However, I only know the facts provided in your question, a different conclusion may be advisable with greater knowledge of the situation.