[Ashartus]

This is pretty much standard practice in the industry, and would usually be specified in an employment contract (I used to work for a similar company and know people at most of the main environmental consulting firms). Also, labour laws generally explicitly exclude professionals, which is why the technicians get a better deal than the ones with degrees (even the non-engineers are usually considered salaried professionals if they have a degree - and biologists are eligible for formal registration as professionals in Alberta and BC). Some of the larger companies don't pay any overtime for professional staff, regardless of the number of chargeable hours worked (there's no actual legal requirement to pay overtime for salaried professionals). At least some companies pay their technicians for approved overtime regardless of whether it's chargeable or not though.