Company changes overtime policy to avoid paying extra to employees, one team uses new rules to get $6000 more while working the same as before: ‘We were suddenly entitled to loads of overtime’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jun 5, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

We all wish we could be the masters of our work schedule, but unless you are self-employed, that is often not the case. Most workplaces work a basic 9-5 schedule, and you simply have to deal with the fact that from 9 AM until 5 PM, you are stuck at work. Other workplaces allow some flexibility, and as long as their employees are doing their work, they don't really care by what time they get to the office.

However, one thing no employee should settle for, or let their workplace gloss over, is overtime. If you find yourself working overtime, you should be compensated for that time, and in most places, that compensation amounts to more than your normal hourly rate. Some workplaces will try to appear "cool" and "laidback", only to reveal that the only reason why they are so loose with their work schedule is that they don't want to pay overtime, even when they are legally obliged to.

That is what happened with the company in the story below…

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  • When the employees in this story heard of the new overtime policy, they initially thought they were going to lose a lot of money, since they would no longer get the overtime pay they deserved. However, the company looked over one team, for which the new policy was actually highly beneficial. 

    Keep scrolling to read the full tale.

  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10513073408
    via Mike Marchetti

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    Changing the definition of overtime? Great!

    The company I used to work for changed their definition of overtime to be "Any hours worked over 40 per week" to avoid paying overtime to people who stayed later on
    via Dulaman96
  • 03
    any given day, and tried to encourage them to take that time in lieu. I.e. if you worked 10 hours on Monday, you were encouraged to work 6 hours
    via Dulaman96
  • 04
    on Tuesday, instead of claiming 2 hours of overtime pay. (Here overtime pays at 1.5x your normal hourly rate, even if you're salaried).
    via Dulaman96
  • 05
    When they changed these rules they forgot about my team. 99% of the company worked regular 9-5 monday- friday shifts but my team worked a 24/7 rotating shift.
    via Dulaman96
  • 06
    Just by the nature of working shifts like that sometimes you end up working up to 55 hours in a single calender week by doing normal 8 hour shifts with no overtime. This
    via Dulaman96
  • 07
    was fine because it meant the next week you worked 25 hours or so. It always averaged out to be 80 hours a fortnight.
    via Dulaman96
  • 08
    But by the wording of this new rule (which was written into our contracts by the union so they couldn't go back on it), we were suddenly entitled to loads of overtime.
    via Dulaman96
  • 09
    50 500
    via utah778

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 10
    It added up to about $6000 per year in extra pay from doing the exact same hours as before.
    via Dulaman96
  • 11
    Hattix There's a little note for management in here. If what you're doing is meant to save money by paying your people less, and their union agrees to it it probably will not save anyone anything.
    via Dulaman96
  • 12
    Professional_Call No malicious compliance here. Just management doing what it does best :)
    via Professional_Call
  • 13
    Dulaman96 OP The malicious compliance was applying for overtime pay despite working the same normal hours as before.
    via Dulaman96
  • 14
    Valuable Customer614 In every state I have worked in that is illegal. I believe OT is paid after 40 hours for the week and over 8 hours daily. Unless you negotiated something different.
    via Valuable_Customer614
  • 15
    Dulaman96 OP I dont live in any of those states. Because I don't live in America.
    via Dulaman96
  • 16
    SenorTron Rookie mistake on the part of the company, I think companies with these sorts of rosters often spread the definition over a fortnight.
    via SenorTron
  • 17
    GypsySnowflake Wait, what were your hours? I'm not clear on what a "24/7 rotating shift" is
    via GypsySnowflake
  • 18
    Dulaman96 OP We had 3 different shifts, from 7am to 3pm, from 3pm to 11pm, and 11pm to 7am, and you would rotate through them over the course of a couple weeks
    via Dulaman96
  • 19
    Resoto 10 Hmm, interesting, all of the jobs. I've had have always been like that, instead of overtime past a strict 9- 5, we've always had flex time. A strict 9-5 concept is foreign to me. I've always loved it.
    via Resoto10

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Tags

boss workplace-stories employee manager job malicious compliance tales-from-the-workplace reddit story overworked-employees workplace overtime Reddit company funny
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