fired for working off the clock

FYI from the USDOL for those of you working off the clock.

It is not okay to work off the clock and not get paid overtime.

It is also not okay for an employer to permit it and then deny they knew or then try to avoid any culpability in the fact you did work without pay for your employer.

If you are non-exempt, you are not a wage slave.

And the truth is some of you have been turned into slaving away for your wages as salaried employees (exempt from overtime law) when in fact your job does not meet the legal requirements to be classified as exempt.

Wage complaints have tripled in the last three years and if the numbers of stories I’ve heard over the last three years of working off the clock to get the job done are any indication ..

there are still a lot of people staying silent about giving away your time for free.

Find where you can file a wage complaint in your state.

Chris

For whatever.

So, if stupidity shows up on behalf of the employer and chooses a falsehood they can’t prove .. don’t fight it, let it go with it and just think in terms of what will effectively poke more holes in the story.

In reality, being fired for working off the clock could very well be argued, as being misconduct, but me saying this, is only because I don’t know if you did anything like maybe filing an overtime wage complaint that prompted this action by your boss. In that case, the termination might be retaliatory for filing the complaint. But you did not mention you have that sort of evidence to aid your case, nor why the State of Georgia allowed you to collect in the first place.

But regardless of all of the above and the reason(s) they end up pursuing to prove misconduct .. remember they are the party with the burden of proof and you don’t have to do anything to help them prove their burden except to tell the truth in a way that doesn’t help them.

So, if you read this before your hearing know that the employer if they do argue the cause was a customer complaint and there is no proof of repeated complaints .. except maybe for your boss’s hearsay testimony (meaning no prior write-ups to back him up, or only write-ups without your signature), object to the documents and anything he/she says about details of the complaint, as being hearsay.

Additionally, if they submit a statement from a customer, object to it being entered into the record. If you can’t cross examine the person who wrote the statement, it can become an unfair advantage and the situation calls for an objection made on these grounds.

If you feel things are going to hell for you during the hearing, or the hearing officer feels like he/she is leaning the way of the employer (which is a possibility when an H.O. os pro business) place a request on the record (anything that happens during the hearing) for a continuance to seek representation.

It’s goes directly to the heart of any person’s, or company’s right to due process, as even the hearing instructions normally mention this procedural right.

If your request is denied by the hearing officer and you do lose the hearing, that request can often be the difference between a good appeal to a board of review and a futile one.

Either way, let me know how it turns out and if you want me to point you to someone who can write your argument for the board of review.

Wish you’d gotten here sooner.

Chris