On Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:38:13 -0400, Metspitzer
wrote:

http://www.ehow.com/list_6734806_geo...ours-work.html

I've long been suspicous of sites like ehow which claim to know
everything about everything. But it might be true.

My niece just started working for a company yesterday.

Is this expected to be a permanent job, or just until she finds a
better job or starts school in September?

She is working
in a convenient store that also sells gas. She has almost no job
experience. She says her boss does not pay time and a half for over
40 hours.

I am assuming that if she says anything, the boss will just quit
telling her to come in. What is the best way to address this problem?

She shoudln't do anything public for a few weeks. Until the first
supervisor written work review, if possible, if they have such things.
So that there is a record that she's a good employee. But she should
keep careful records, contemporaneous records (that is, recorded when
something happens, like when she gets to work and when she leaves
work.)

When I was a contractor, I used to keep such records because we only
billed the client in full hours afaict. Most people bille 8 8 8 8 8,
but I stayed late sometimes, I got in late sometimes, I talked to my
mother on the phone for long periods (after 4:30 but then I went back
to work) so I kept track of my actual hours worked, and kept track of
the discrepancy between that and and 7, 8, 9 hours per day. I once
over time fell 3 hours behind how much I was supposed to work, but
otoh, once I was 3 or 4 hours ahead. When I finally left, I had
billd just what I worked, no more, no less. (I also kept track of
personal phone calls and goofing off and if it totaled more than a 15
minute coffee break in the morning and one in the afternnon, I
deducted that from the amount I billed for. They never asked about
my hours. I'm not sure if that's because I got the work done well or
just because they trusted me.

Some states have a wage and hour, or employment something division of
the state government. after her first positive review, I would talk
to them. Oh, and after a couple weeks in which she works more than
40 hours. Or maybe I would call anonymously now. Maybe gas stations
are an exception to the rule? Is it a deal breaker if they're not
going to pay her. Even if the state instructs them not to fire her,
it may end up being very unpleasant working there.

Has she even worked more than 40 hours in a week yet? Maybe this will
never come up.