Some background – I work in environmental consulting in California. At my last firm, they found a way to turn all staff (including field staff/ non-managers/ lower level staff) exempt from overtime payout. They made it so you'd get paid a normal hourly rate if you work overtime hours, only if you're meeting your utilization percentage (number of hours being billed directly to the client).
I mentioned this to HR of the new company I transitioned to and she told me that was illegal. Fast forward a year later and this company has now also taken away OT payout from all staff levels even if they aren't managing people or projects. At first I didn't so much mind because I was staying strictly at 40 hours anyways due to my workload. A couple weeks ago a 2+ month long field project got dropped in my lap that will require 11+ hour days in the heat and my PM wants me to bear the brunt of this work. I made it clear to him that I will not be onsite more than 3 days a week or I will burn out, trying to keep up with our contractors schedules (who ARE getting paid OT). He proceeds to schedule me Wed-Fri and Mon-Wed the next week. I won't even get into the logistics required for this project but it's filled both with heavy lifting and extreme tedium.
I'm already burnt out. And I'm done with this shitty trend in environmental consulting, stealing away field staff OT hour payout and I have no idea if this is legal. Any input or advice is welcomed. I'm one foot out the door anyways but I'd like to start a labor investigation if it will be successful for my coworkers that deserve OT payout also.