DEAR CARRIE: I am divorced and have never remarried. Can I receive widow benefits under my ex-husband's Social Security record, or is his widow the only one eligible?
_ The Ex Factor
DEAR EX FACTOR: You can qualify for widow's benefits on your ex's Social Security record if you were legally married for at least 10 years before your divorce, said Linda Lauria, a spokeswoman in the Social Security Administration's Manhattan office in New York City.
That's a starting point for eligibility. Here are some additional requirements that anyone thinking of applying for benefits on an ex-spouse's record should bear in mind: While you could qualify if your ex-spouse has remarried, you must be unmarried; you must be at least 62 years old; your ex-spouse must be entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits; and the benefits you are entitled to receive based on your own work record, must be less than the benefit you would receive based on your ex-spouse's work history.
DEAR CARRIE: Just out of curiosity, why don't federal employees pay into Social Security?
_ Taxing Question
DEAR TAXING: Well, they once didn't, but now they do.
Before 1984, federal employees paid into the Civil Service Retirement System, and were exempt from FICA deductions, which include Social Security payroll taxes, Lauria said. That meant those workers didn't earn credits toward Social Security benefits.
And if those same employees later worked in private-sector jobs that qualified them for Social Security benefits, the amount they were entitled to would be reduced because of their government pension.
After amendments to the Social Security Act, federal employees, hired as of Jan. 1, 1984, became subject to FICA withholding, Lauria said.
DEAR CARRIE: I work in a public school as a per diem nonunion custodian. I got called to fill in for a full-time worker. I worked eight hours, without taking my half-hour lunch break. But I was paid for just 7 { hrs. Is this allowed?
_ Short of Lunch and Pay
DEAR SHORT: Hourly workers have to be paid for all the time they work. Since the district allowed you to work during your lunch hour, it has to pay you for that time.
In labor law that concept is known as "suffering" employees to work, and here is what the U.S. Labor Department's website says about it:
"Work not requested but suffered or permitted to be performed is work time that must be paid for by the employer. For example, an employee may voluntarily continue to work at the end of the shift to finish an assigned task or to correct errors. The reason is immaterial. The hours are work time and are compensable."
And when any extra time you work takes you over 40 hours a week, you have to earn overtime for those extra hours.
In the meantime, the district owes you for the working lunch. If possible, give the district a heads-up next time, when you think that your workload will require you to work through lunch and that you will record an eight-hour day as a result. At that point, a supervisor could approve the time _ or not. But either way, if you wind up working eight hours, you have to paid for all that time.
