Is it legal to dock pay for?

Can an employer dock pay but not pay over time?

• This is for an Ohio employer- a privately held business. Employees who are paid hourly and punch a time clock. Can the employer dock the employee's PTO (paid time off) 15 minutes when falling 1-14 minutes short of an hour, yet not pay over time if the employee works 1-14 minutes over the hour? For example- if the total hours for the day are 7 hours 59 minutes- the employer docks 15 minutes from the employees PTO (or if there is no more PTO then the paycheck gets cut by 15 minutes). But if the total hours for the day are 8 hours 14 minutes, the employer does not compensate those extra 14 minutes worked. Is this legal? Shouldn't the employee just get paid for the exact # of minutes worked? Or is this policy just at the discretion of the employer?

• Answer:

  Popeye is right about almost everything. However, your employer does have to pay you for extra time even if you are not scheduled for that time. Your employer can direct you not to work more than eight hours a day. If you do so anyway, you can be disciplined (suspended or perhaps even fired). You can complain to your state's department of labor if there is a problems with that.