Overtime Law Blog

Does Your Employer Owe You Overtime Pay?

A recent statistic from the Department of Labor found that more than 70% of employers are out of compliance with wage and hour laws. What does this mean for you? It could mean a bigger paycheck for you and your coworkers. Throughout the country, employees are challenging their employer’s illegal pay practices and winning settlement and verdicts that force employers to pay them correctly.

If you believe unlawful pay practices are occurring at your job, contact the employment law attorneys at Gibbons Jones, P.C. to see whether you have a claim. Under the law, you may be entitled to three years of back pay, liquidated damages (double the amount you were underpaid), plus attorney’s fees and interest. Most employment attorneys (including myself) will consider taking overtime and other wage claims on a contingency basis; i.e. no fee unless you recover.

Traditionally, the majority of overtime claims have focused on the misclassification of employees. Keep in mind, just because you are paid a “salary” or called a “manager” does not necessarily mean you do do not qualify for overtime pay. Only certain types of salaried employees are “exempt” from overtime.
Another violation that employers frequently overlook is work “off the clock.” Some employees are required to perform duties before or after work, without pay. This includes pre- or post-shift meetings, time spent putting on or taking off uniforms or gear necessary for your job (donning and doffing), booting-up computers, or even checking and responding to emails from home. Other employers deduct time from employees’ paychecks for breaks and lunch without regard for whether the employees work through those time periods. Finally, some employers use computerized time-keeping systems that automatically clock employees in and out regardless of whether employees arrive early, stay late or take shortened lunches. With few exceptions, if you are performing work for your employer, your employer should be tracking, crediting and paying you for all the time that you work.
Some employers seek to avoid paying overtime by labeling their employees as “independent contractors.” Issuing a 1099 form does not automatically make someone an independent contractor.

Finally, other employers seek to avoid paying overtime by awarding “compensatory” or “comp” time in lieu of paying overtime In general, non-exempt employees working for private employers are eligible for overtime pay during the weeks in which they work overtime. Private employers cannot give comp time to non-exempt employees in lieu of overtime pay and require those employees to use comp time at a later date.
These are just a few of the common ways that employers fail to comply with wage and hour laws. If any of these describe your employment situation, take action and contact the overtime employment law attorneys at Gibbons Jones,P.C.

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• Does Your Employer Owe You Overtime Pay?

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