The Roper Law Firm

OVERTIME PAY

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that requires overtime pay to be paid to non-overtime exempt employees at the rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay when employees work more than 40 hours in a week. (As explained below, the regular rate of pay is equal to an employee’s hourly rate of pay or higher). The majority of employees in this country are covered by the FLSA. Unfortunately, employers violate the overtime pay laws in many different and sometimes creative ways.

Some of the most common ways that employers violate the overtime laws include:

  • Improper calculation of the rate at which overtime is paid;
  • Failure to count work time in computing overtime pay such as working employees "off-the-clock" or failing to count pre-shift or post-shift activities as work time;
  • Improperly failing to pay employees true time and one-half overtime pay when the worker works 40 hours a week during a four day work week;
  • Improperly failing to pay employees true time and one-half overtime pay when the worker works any day during the pay period for more than 8 hours on a specific day or days;
  • Intentionally or unintentionally mis-classifying a salaried or hourly employee as overtime exempt.

Perhaps the greatest misconception among employees is that their employer does not have to pay them overtime if they are paid on a salaried basis. THIS IS FALSE. Salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay as long as their job duties do not fit within one of the exemptions to the overtime pay laws. Indeed, in overtime pay cases, courts presume that all employees are entitled to time and one-half overtime compensation. Only those employees who an employer can prove fit within one of the exemptions to the FLSA can lawfully be denied overtime pay. Some states require that overtime be calculated at higher rates than the FLSA. Special rules apply to employees of federal, state and local governments in the areas of fire protection and law enforcement, volunteering and compensatory time. A limited partial overtime exemption applies to law enforcement and fire protection employees.

In a sexual harassment case, the inactions of a company while addressing sexual harassment claims may be just as prevalent in your case as the sexual harassment actions that have been reported.

It is important to note that it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against you for filing an Overtime Pay case against them. <

In employment law cases, including Overtime Pay Dispute cases, if you are successful in your claim, Federal Law provides that your employer may be ordered to pay your attorney fees and court costs.

If you believe you have not been paid Overtime Pay that you are lawfully entitled to, contact The Roper Law Firm by calling 706.596.5353