During the pandemic I worked at an Amazon Fulfillment Center and at the time staffing was short and Amazon was requiring us to work 6-7 days a week for most of the “peak” season. I was more than frustrated after the second week and started to wonder “is it illegal to work 7 days a week?”. After doing a bit of research, this is what I have found out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, it is not illegal for your employer to require you to work 7 days a week if you are considered an exempt employee. Exempt employees are not protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is the federal law that sets guidelines for minimum wage, overtime pay, and other labor standards.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article I will be talking about what an exempt an employee is and what options you have as an employee if you’re being required to work 7 days a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you’re able to understand if you’re allowed to work 7 days a week you need to understand a little about what you’re classified as. I’ll give an example of both so it’s a little easier for you to understand before we continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FLSA puts workers into two categories based on their jobs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you’ve been able to figure out if you’re either an exempt or non-exempt employee, you need to know what you’re state says. Below I will have a few examples of states and their respective laws:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, not all states have laws in place regarding the maximum number of hours an employee can work in a week. This is where it may<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are a non-exempt employee, which is most likely the case if you’re being required to work 7 days a week, then yes, you are entitled to overtime pay. Overtime is any hours worked beyond 40 in one workweek and is supposed to be paid at 1.5 times your regular hourly rate (aka time and a half).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are a non-exempt employee and your employer is requiring you to work 7 days a week without overtime pay, there are a few options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you can try to negotiate with your employer for overtime pay or more time off in exchange for the extra hours worked. If that is not an option, you may file a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and they will investigate the situation. And lastly, if all else fails, you can always look for a new job where your rights as an employee are being upheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s an incredibly unfortunate situation but if you’re a non-exempt employee, your employer is allowed to require overtime as long as they pay the overtime rate. However, if you are an exempt employee, your employer is not required to provide overtime pay and can require you to work extra hours without additional compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are required to work 7 days a week, it is important to prioritize your health and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some really valuable tips to stay healthy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To summarize, it is not illegal for your employer to require you to work 7 days a week if you are classified as an exempt employee. However, as a non-exempt employee, you are entitled to overtime pay for any hours worked beyond 40 in one workweek. If your employer is not providing this, there are steps you can take such as negotiating with your employer or filing a complaint with the Department of Labor. It is also important to prioritize your health and well-being when working long hours.<\/p>\n\n\n During the pandemic I worked at an Amazon Fulfillment Center and at the time staffing was short and Amazon was requiring us to work 6-7 days a week for most of the “peak” season. I was more than frustrated after the second week and started to wonder “is it illegal to work 7 days a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6510,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508\/revisions\/6510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawpedic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}First, Are You An Exempt or Non-Exempt Employee?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Do The States Say?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Am I Entitled To Overtime Pay?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Can I Do If My Employer is Requiring Me To Work 7 Days A Week?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can I Deny Working Overtime?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Stay Safe When Working 7 Days A Week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n