I recently learned that a local company at some point had a mandatory overtime policy, and get this, they manufacture truck bed covers.
First of all, there should be a law against mandatory overtime in most circumstances in which the product or service you are providing is not critical to human life. When I say that I mean the only exception to mandatory overtime should be the food supply chain (groceries not restaurants) and medical care. That still covers a lot of people and jobs but if you’re running up to a deadline for an order of coffee mugs, too bad so sad, let the order be late.
When looking into mandatory overtime laws, another BS policy is that employers are required to pay 1.5x the hourly rate for non-exempt employees (FSLA salary rules are also BS). The problem with that is it’s an incentive for employers to do overtime, because one person for a few hours at 1.5x hourly rate is still cheaper than employing 2 people with normal hours. Mandatory overtime should actually pay 2.5x the hourly rate as an incentive for employers to staff their businesses properly.