Can you be forced to work overtime? Is mandatory overtime legal in Florida? Or can you just say no?
You might be surprised to learn that Florida does not address overtime hours or pay in its laws. Instead, the state relies on presiding federal law. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay 1½ times (150%) of an eligible or “nonexempt” employee’s regular pay rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a regular work week. The FLSA makes certain employees in management or specialized lines of work exempt from overtime pay requirements.
But that’s about the extent of the law concerning overtime pay. Employers must pay nonexempt employees for every hour they work, including time-and-a-half for overtime hours. But for most employees, there’s no legal limit to how much time your employer may require you to work.
It’s important to have a basic understanding of FLSA requirements for overtime pay if you are employed in Florida. Wage theft is common in Florida and often includes not paying overtime owed to hourly workers. At Cruz Law Firm, P.A., our Tallahassee unpaid wages attorneys can help if you’re not being paid for all of your work hours.
Employer Obligations and Employee Rights for Overtime Hours
Of course, your employer can’t “make” you work overtime. Florida is an “at-will” employment state. You have the right to quit your job at any time, for any reason, and you don’t even have to give notice. But your employer can also terminate your job at any time for any reason that is not discriminatory or retaliatory.
Now, quitting your job may not be practical. But if your employer needs everyone on staff to work ceaseless double shifts or some other unrealistic schedule, a group of employees may have leverage to negotiate something more appropriate.
Florida law gives you the right to organize and bargain collectively and to participate in labor organizations (i.e., unions). And once you assert your labor rights, an employer who retaliates, such as by firing you or withholding earned pay, can be sued for unfair labor practices and compelled to compensate employees they have treated unfairly.
When is Mandatory Overtime Not Allowed?
Employers have a lot of discretion when requiring overtime hours, but it is not unlimited. Overtime hours cannot be assigned — or denied — as retaliation for exercising your legal rights of any kind or to discriminate against employees.
Unlawful workplace discrimination would be singling you out due to your:
- Race
- Color
- Religion
- Sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity
- National origin
- Disability
- Age (40 or older)
- Genetic information, including family medical history
- Marital status
- Having AIDS or HIV
- Having the sickle-cell trait
If you are a union member, your union contract likely addresses limits on work hours. Collective bargaining agreements may provide a higher wage, shorter workweek, or higher overtime premium than provided under the FLSA, but cannot waive or reduce FLSA protections.
If you have a disability, you may be able to request a modified work schedule that limits the hours you work consecutively or in a workweek. The Job Accommodations Network (JAN) says, “[E]mployers sometimes must consider excusing employees with qualifying disabilities from working overtime, unless it can be shown that the ability to work overtime is a qualification standard or essential job function.”
If working overtime is an essential job function, JAN says employers would still need to decide whether a reasonable accommodation would enable the employee to work overtime. A doctor may restrict a patient from overtime because the patient cannot stand for more than eight hours, but they might change this recommendation if their patient gets a stool to sit on while performing all or part of their job.
If you are a commercial truck or bus driver, you are bound by federal Hours of Service regulations that prescribe how much time you may spend behind the wheel and mandatory rest time. Your employer should not demand you violate these rules. If a commercial driver’s employer insists they drive when they should not, the driver may consider reporting this threat to public safety under federal whistleblower protections.
If you are an underage worker, Florida’s Child Labor Law restricts minors aged 16-17 to only working eight hours between 6:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. in any one day when there is school the next day. However, changes enacted in July 2024 allow minors 16-17 to work over eight hours Sundays and holidays, even with school the next day. The new law also allows parents and school superintendents to waive the limitation of minors 16-17 to only 30 work hours per week when school is in session, potentially leading to mandatory overtime hours. The change also lowers the age restriction on minors working more than six consecutive days from 17 to 15.
Finally, the FLSA exempts certain employees from overtime pay, including:
- Executive, administrative, or professional employees
- Computer professionals, including systems analysts, programmers, software engineers, and other similarly skilled workers
- Outside sales employees
- Creative professionals (actors, musicians, writers, visual artists)
- Farmworkers
Legal Recourse and Rights of Employee Rights
If your employer requires you to work overtime in a nonexempt position, they must pay you time-and-a-half for each overtime hour worked. They cannot legally assign you overtime hours as a means of discrimination, retaliation, or in opposition to terms of a labor contract or other workers’ rights.
If you believe your employer owes you overtime wages or has violated your rights, and your attempts to resolve the issue have failed, contact an employee rights attorney at Cruz Law. We can help you assemble documents and witnesses to support your case, help you resolve the issue, and recover your losses.
If our contacting your employer did not resolve the problem, we could help you file a complaint with the Florida Department of Labor or with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The state or federal DOL can recover back wages and additional compensation for you and assess fines from an employer who has violated overtime laws.
All complaints to the state or federal DOL are confidential. It is illegal to retaliate against employees who file complaints and/or cooperate with DOL investigations, regardless of an employee’s immigration status.
Contact an Employee Rights Lawyer at Cruz Law Firm, P.A.
Cruz Law can help you stand your ground to demand justice if an employer has refused to pay you for overtime work or has illegally assigned or denied you extra hours. You may be owed substantial compensation for employee rights violations you have suffered plus lost pay, and we can help you recover it.
We represent hard-working employees like you in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and across the Florida Panhandle. Our attorneys provide each client with personalized attention and robust legal advocacy. Contact our law firm today.
