Many Massachusetts companies and their managers ask their employees who are not exempt from overtime to work “off the clock,” meaning that the employee isn’t being paid for all of the time spent on the company’s business. Some of these activities include the following: (1) Attending meetings before the employee’s regularly scheduled shift; (2) Driving from one company location to another; (3) Going to the bank to make deposits before or after a shift; (4) Participating in conference calls before or after a shift; (5) Cleaning up after a shift; (6) Picking up supplies while punched out or any other activities that are for the benefit of the employer.
Companies that ask their non-exempt employees to work off the clock may be violating Massachusetts wage and hour laws such as the mimimum wage law. In addition, Massachusetts has a very pro-employee law that requires judges to triple the amount that an employee is owed if the employee wins in court on a wage and hour claim. The judge can’t take into consideration whether the company made a good faith effort to comply with the law but just didn’t know better.
If you have any questions, please call Boston, Massachusetts labor and employment lawyer Maura Greene, Law Office of Maura Greene, Six Beacon St., Suite 205, Boston, MA 02108, at 617-936-1580 for a free consultation. Maura Greene was named in the Boston Globe in 2012 as one of Boston’s highest rated labor and employment attorneys.