With the growing backlash of workers unhappy with the way their employers are treating them, I wonder if they are aware that many states have labor laws to protect them. In many cases all they have to do is report a violation to their state's labor board and an investigation will be done. I can see that many states will encourage this so they can collect large fines from the companies who are violating workers rights.
Each state is different when it comes to what is covered under their labor laws. All of them cover overtime and working hours but each state is different as to how the overtime is calculated. For example California Overtime is worked hours over 8 hours in a day while overtime in Oregon is worked hours over 40 in a week. Also each state defines "worked" hours differently. Some states will define "worked" hours to include vacation or paid sick time while other states include only hours that were actually worked.
Those "worked" hours can be a cause for employee and employer problems. Imagine if your paying work week starts on a Saturday but your normal work week is Monday through Friday. You are asked to work the Saturday for "overtime" but the following Monday is a holiday. You end up working 5 days of the week and get paid for the holiday - all at straight time. You complain that you were asked to come in on the Saturday as "overtime" but you were not paid overtime for it. The company will just shrug its shoulders and say that they are following the labor law for that state. I would report the incidence to the state labor board but only if I had a letter or memo from the company requesting the overtime Saturday. If no proof then you would need other workers to back you up in the form of written letters or them also filing a complaint.
Know your states labor laws and also know what your employer is capable of getting away with.
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