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Published by the
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 46
Serving
IRS Employees of North Texas
September / October 2007 |
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Long is Your Work Week Becoming? By John Darden with a little help from our friends in Chapter 24, Detroit, MI. Have you noticed that as front line employees, we are having more and more expected of us in order to perform our jobs than we did just a few years ago? Have you also noticed that some, or perhaps several of your coworkers are now coming in to the office earlier, leaving later, or even working on the weekends just to get their work done? Now you might ask yourself "What is a work week?" Is it 40 hours (80 hours per pay period depending on your work schedule if you opt for an alternative work schedule)? Does it consist of five workdays in a week for some and six days for others? Does it depend on the particular employee's job circumstances? Is it loosely defined? Does it need to be longer than 40 hours if you "want to get ahead" at the IRS? The point I am trying to make is do you feel you need to put in just a little extra time in order to get that case closed? The answers to these questions are important because there is a trend developing throughout IRS to unofficially extend your workweek. We have all seen it. Fellow co-workers so overwhelmed by their inventory that they feel compelled to arrive early, stay late, and come in on weekends, just to get ahead (or just to insure they are able keep their job). This is being done without claiming compensation time or credit hours. We are not just talking about 15 or 30 minutes here or there. Employees are now working one, two or more hours each and every day. To correctly answer these questions, we must look at the Department of Labor and The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and 5 U.S.C. FLSA states, "An employer who requires or permits an employee to work overtime is generally required to pay the employee premium pay for such overtime work. Employees |
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by the Fair Labor Standards Act must receive
overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in
a workweek of at least one and one-half times
their regular rates of pay." Please note
that Tax Compliance Officers and Revenue Officers
are in fact covered by the FLSA, additionally,
Revenue Agents, Tax Compliance Officers and
Revenue Officers are covered under 5 U.S.C. |
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See Workweek on Page 2 |
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In
This Issue…
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NTEU
Mission: To Organize Federal Employees To Work
Together To Ensure That Every Federal Employee Is
Treated With Dignity And Respect. |