<prompt> Human: So I usually get right around 40 hours a week at my job, and every once in a while go over a few hours if needed. This past week my boss and his wife went out of town so I had little choice but to get overtime. Hes trying to pay me cash for all hours that are overtime, which he tries to do with most everyone. I cant help but feel like Im getting screwed out of some money. He says it will be roughly the same pay after taxes, but I am unsure. I am aware that this is tax evasion of some kind and morally wrong, and that there are serious consequences. He makes me feel like Im being an asshole for saying no and that its really no big deal... what should I do??Edit: This post got a lot more attention than I anticipated. Thank you to everyone for the advice and additional commentary on the matter. I see that quite a few comments have been removed or deleted and its going to take some time for me to sift through them all Ive been at work all day. Just so everyone knows, I did NOT take any money from him. I submitted my time card with the overtime on it and will be paid the right way. Ive learned a lot from this thread and I hope that maybe a few other people will find it helpful as well.Edit 2: I shouldnt have used the word morally in the same sentence as tax lol.Assistant: Sometimes bosses need an attitude adjustment. You need to sell it to your boss. Change their perspective.Bosses often think emotionally about paying overtime: OMG, that guy doesnt deserve 1.5x his hourly rate. We are going to go broke if we keep going on like this. This is particularly true for bosses that are also the owner.At a previous job, there was a real problem with pay inequality between people who had to work in the field versus the office. Everyone was salary. The management finally had a lightbulb moment and realized that if you allocate all of the per employee expenses to the first 40 hours, paying overtime seems much more reasonable. The first 40 hours pays for the desk, health insurance, etc. Once you allocate all of the fixed per employee costs to the first 40 hours, the illusion that paying overtime is automatically unprofitable disappears. The real benefit is the ability to have an elastic labor supply without the hassle and expense of hiring an additional body. There are intangible benefits also, many workers appreciate the opportunity to work a few more hours and make more money.Human: My boss is also the owner, so theres that. His wife is a co-owner of sorts shes HR at her other job and she does things by the book. So if I tell her, Ill get my overtime pay. Bossman has always done shady things from what I can tell and I dont believe hes all that intelligent so I figure no amount of reasoning will change his ways. And honestly, the store is pretty much going broke. Youve definitely enlightened me on some of the aspects of overtime. Thanks for that.  <response>: You have to make him realize that if he doesnt want to pay overtime, then he better not leave town and leave you no other choice. Its not like you are just sitting around doing nothing and end up needing to get paid more. Either he has the money to pay you, or you need to go find another job. There need not be any emotional attachment to work. 