Is it legal for any employer to make me work an additional 24 hour shift, due to someone calling out sick?
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Is it legal for any employer to make me work an additional 24 hour shift, due to someone calling out sick?
I work for a county government agency and am on a 24/48 hour schedule; we work 24 hou rs on and have 48 hours off. When we are done with our 24 hour shift, 15 minutes or soprior to going home, if someone calls in sick for the next day’s shift our employer will “holdover” an employee for an additional 24 hours. Even if it is against the employees will. We have been told that we will be fired if we don’t comply. Can they legally fire me if I don’t want to stay for the mandatory shift (a total of 48 hour in a row)?
Asked on September 8, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
The following answer relates to the law generally: it does not take coginanze of any employment agreements, union agreements, civil service rules, or rules pertaining to certain specific jobs or industries (such as rules limiting flight time for pilots or driving time for truckers) which may apply to you.
As a general matter, an employer may set *any* terms and conditions for employment, including shifts, hours, days worked, that it likes, and may make employees holdover for additional shifts otherwise work other than on their "regular" shift. The employer must pay hourly employees for all hours worked, including overtime; and must pay other nonexempt employees, including nonexempt salaried employees, overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a single work week.
The employer may not discriminate in who it makes work on the basis of race, religion, age over 40, disability, or sex.
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