It’s really against the law for any employer to do what you said (not saying that they don’t but they can get in trouble if they are found out). If someone works overtime they HAVE to be paid for that overtime in THAT pay period not the next. At least that’s how it works in Texas. When I worked there, we could not get overtime BUT if supers anticipated it, they could authorize it (rarely happened) When I started I told them I had to have off the two weeks at Christmas - we were going on a ski trip. They said okie doke. Come time for me to get off, no deal they say. I quit. We had fun in the snow. ;)
I worked in the West Knoxville store, and this is exactly how they did it there in 2000. Things may have changed since then, but I ended up walking away from it for greener pastures and never looked back.