• Ohio's mandatory overtime laws entitle most workers to one-and-a-half-time pay.worker image by Robert Kelly from Fotolia.com
  
  Mandatory overtime is a controversial topic not only in Ohio, but across the country. While some argue it endangers workers in certain professions, such as nursing and construction, others welcome overtime pay. No matter which side you fall on, the state of Ohio has laws set in place to ensure if employers require mandatory overtime, employees are paid for their work.
  
  

Wages

• According to Ohio Code, workers must be paid at a rate of one-and-a-half times their normal hourly rate for any time worked more than 40 hours in a work week. However, employers who gross less than $150,000 per year are exempt from this law, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce.
  
  

Health care field

• Health care workers employed at hospitals and nursing homes in Ohio must be paid the same rate of one-and-a-half times their hourly wage when they work more than 80 hours in a two-week period, as well as more than eight hours a day, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. In March of 2009, a bill was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives that would end mandatory overtime in the nursing field unless there was a declared emergency. H.B. 74 was sent to the Healthcare Access and Affordability committee for further analysis.
  
  

Time off

• According to Ohio Code, if a county employee takes time off instead of taking overtime pay, that compensatory time can be taken on a time-and-a-half basis when it is convenient for both the employee and employer. This must occur, however, within 180 days of when the overtime was initially worked. The code, however, also dictates that a "county appointing authority" does not have to follow this section of the code and can instead adopt its own policy of overtime. The county must supply all of its employees with a written notice of the policy at least 10 days before it begins.
  
  

Who is not included

• The above mandatory laws do not apply to all employees in the state of Ohio. Workers employed in agriculture are not covered by this law, as well as those employed by the U.S. government, baby-sitters, live-in companions, newspaper delivery people, outside salespeople, police officers, firefighters, camp or recreational employees of nonprofit organizations and anyone employed by the Ohio Senate or House of Representatives.