My understanding, based upon the report of friends in the accounting and HR areas, is that a firm gains advantage by holding onto money till the *bitter end* that could (and probably should) be disbursed throughout the year as o-time via interest accrual and investment dividends.
In short, the employer's accounts look better and there's more money to play with.
To be honest, I'm not certain as to the accuracy of this view. I believe the Fair Labor Standards Act covers these areas.
I've provided some links that may be helpful below:
DRM
Fair Labor Standards Act Info
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/statutes/whd/allfair.htm
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from -
http://www.overtimepaylaw.com/chapter5.html
Bonus, Productivity Bonus, or Shift Pay
* If you have been paid a bonus based on productivity or some other premium for working a particular shift, depending on the circumstances that additional pay could be included in the calculation of what should be multiplied by “time and a half.” * Example: An employee makes $12.00 per hour “base pay.” The employee receives a shift pay bonus of $250.00 for the week. The actual rate of pay for overtime calculation pay purposes is $18.25 per hour and not $12.00 per hour. If the employee worked an additional 10 hours, the gross overtime pay due the employee should be $273.75 (10 hours times $18.25 per hour regular pay times “time and a half”) and not $180.00 (10 hours times $12.00 per hour regular pay times “time and a half”).
....
from -
http://www.payroll-connect.com/Articles/2003/October/BonusesOvertime.aspx
In Brian Farrington’s PayrollConnect article in November 2001, Regular Rate: The Hidden Overtime Trap, he states that employers pay overtime on all compensation, not just base rate. If the employer gives the employee a $100 production bonus this week, the employer has raised the employee's average hourly rate for the hours worked in the week, and this increases the overtime liability for any overtime hours worked in the week. Say an employee gets a payment of $400 in commissions for a 4-week month. Assume further that the employee is paid weekly, and receives proper overtime on the base rate, so that at the end of the month all the employee is due is the extra overtime on the commission. The calculation would look like this:
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