Fair Standards Labor Act - REQUIRES OT PAY

The U.S. Dept. of Labor requires time and a half pay for all hours over 40 worked in a work week.  (I think only if employee status.)  We are considered piecemeal workers and indeed are eligible for OT pay. 

"All time spent by an employee performing activities which are job-related is potentially "work time." This includes the employee's regular "on the clock" work time, plus "off the clock" time spent performing job-related activities (which benefit the employer). Potential work is actual work if the employer "suffered or permitted" the employee to do it. An employer suffers or permits work if it knows the employee is doing the work (or could have found out by looking), and lets the employee do it.

With only a few exceptions, all time an employee is required to be at the premises of the employer is work time. All regular shift time is work time. This includes "breaks" (if there are breaks), and "nonproductive" time (for example, time spent by a receptionist reading a novel while waiting for the phone to ring). In addition, all time spent by an employee performing work-related activities that the employer suffers or permits is work time, whether on premises or not and whether "required" or not. "  http://www.flsa.com/overtime.html

This includes time reading emails, checking QA send backs, BREAKS. 

This is to be paid at time and a half of your calculated average pay. 

It is time we start including OT hours on our invoices. 

You might want to calculate your average hourly rate over a period of time and go by that. 

Here is the law  http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/overtimepay.htm