Employers sometimes ask workers to work overtime, which is defined as any time beyond 40 hours worked in a workweek. Under state and federal wage and hour laws, employers must pay non-exempt employees time-and-a-half (one-and-a-half times the employee’s normal hourly pay) for all overtime work. But can businesses in Pennsylvania force workers to work overtime if those workers don’t want to?

General Rules on Overtime in Pennsylvania

Under Pennsylvania wage and hour laws, the standard rule allows employers to order workers to work overtime, even if a worker doesn’t want to work overtime. An employer may discipline or terminate an employee who refuses to work overtime when ordered to do so. However, when an employer requests a non-exempt employee to work overtime, they must pay that employee one-and-a-half times their regular pay for any overtime work. Employers may not require employees to work overtime when they fail to follow overtime rules under state and federal wage and hour laws.

Can Employers Force Overtime?

Employers usually can force workers to work overtime because Pennsylvania has an “at-will” employment system. In an at-will employment arrangement, an employer may terminate an employee for any reason or no reason, unless the employer’s reason violates statutory law or public policy (e.g., discrimination, whistleblower, or workers’ comp retaliation, etc.). However, various state and federal laws and regulations may restrict the number of hours that employees in specific industries can work or grant employees in certain sectors the right to refuse overtime.

Furthermore, an employee can negotiate a provision in their employment contract that gives them the right to refuse overtime. An employer, meanwhile, may agree to a provision in a collective bargaining agreement that allows employees covered by the CBA to refuse overtime.

Key Exceptions and Worker Protections

Exceptions and legal protections against the standard rule that allows employers to mandate overtime include:

  • Contractual Restrictions – An employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement may grant workers the right to refuse overtime work or prohibit employers from requesting that workers perform overtime.
  • Healthcare Workers – In Pennsylvania, Act 102 prohibits healthcare facilities from requiring employees involved in direct patient care or clinical care services who receive an hourly wage or qualify as nonsupervisory employees to work more hours than agreed to or more than the employee’s regularly scheduled work shifts. However, healthcare employees can decide to work overtime. The law also allows a facility to require an employee to complete a patient care procedure in progress at the end of the employee’s shift if their departure would have adverse consequences for the patient.
  • State and Federal Restrictions on Transportation Workers – State and federal regulations for the trucking and airline industries limit the number of hours that workers, such as truckers, pilots, and flight attendants, may work in a day or a workweek.
  • Disability Accommodations – Under disability and workers’ compensation laws, an employer may not discipline an employee for declining or refusing overtime work when such work would exceed restrictions imposed by the employee’s treating physician in a workers’ compensation claim or when the employee and the employer have agreed to a restriction on work hours as an accommodation for the employee’s disability. Disability discrimination laws may also prohibit employers from terminating employees who cannot work overtime due to reasonable workplace accommodations.

Contact an Employment Law Attorney

When your employer has demanded that you work overtime in Pennsylvania, understanding your legal rights can help you protect your legal and financial interests. Contact Ramage Lykos, LLC, today for a confidential consultation with an employment law attorney to learn more about forced overtime laws in Pennsylvania and better understand your rights and options as a worker.