Overtime in America: Current Trends and What’s to Come

by | Jul 12, 2016 | Networking and Education

For years, overtime has been a sensitive issue not only for workers, but also for employers themselves. Of course, this sensitivity stems from the Department of Labor’s meticulous regulations regarding salary thresholds for overtime pay and the eligibility of specific types of workers who qualify to receive it. Back in May we detailed the publishing of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule, which will become effective in December 2016 – and could mean big changes for employers across various sectors.

This change has us thinking about overtime trends in general and how employers are adjusting. Are there specific days of the week (or times of year) when workers are being asked to work more overtime? Are there specific states where more employers are asking their employees to work overtime than others? Industry service provider Paychex recently conducted a research project analyzing the use of the hashtag #overtime on Instagram – and the results uncovered some interesting details. Check the highlights below, then view the full research results.

So, which month had the most #overtime posts? March. With NCAA’s March Madness accounting for decreased productivity as employees check game scores and work on their brackets, it appears that workers are making up for lost time by working extra hours. Not surprisingly, the posts fall off during the summer months and climb back up toward the winter holidays.

Also not surprising is the fact that Saturday has the highest volume of posts. Unfortunately, many are asked to work overtime on weekends when demand is highest and worker availability is lowest. As far as which states have the most posts about overtime, Hawaii, California, Nevada, New York and New Jersey round out the top five respectively with a grouping of Midwestern states having the fewest posts.

overtime-posts-per-100k-residents

The study also analyzed the specific industries mentioned within #overtime social media posts, and the results show an interesting mix – the most mentioned industry being construction and the least mentioned being education. Art, welding, hair, design and nursing were also frequently mentioned by overtime workers.

While not a complete depiction of the use of overtime in America, this survey does reflect a sample of national trends that are likely to change dramatically when the new overtime rule goes into effect at the end of this year. In fact, according to the DOL, more than 4 million workers will receive overtime pay in the next year alone.

Have an industry topic you’d love to delve into? As a benefit of membership, DirectEmployers Members have the opportunity to survey fellow Members – and therefore, tap into the knowledge and best practices of thousands of HR professionals from our 860+ Member companies. Contact Communications Manager, Kacie Clark (Kacie@directemployers.org) for more information.

Source:

Paychex. #Overtime – Where and When are People Talking About Working Overtime on Instagram?; Web. 6 June 2016. <http://www.paychex.com/articles/payroll-taxes/working-overtime>

Kacie Koons
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