The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments. As of July 24, 2009, FLSA provides that every employer shall pay their employees at an hourly rate of no less than $7.25 per hour. Many states also have their own minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher minimum wage.
The FLSA also states that “if an employee works more than forty hours per week (any fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours – seven consecutive 24-hour periods), the employer must provide compensation for the hours in excess of forty at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which the employee is employed.” There is no limit on the number of hours employees 16 years or older may work in any workweek. The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on weekends, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.
Hours worked ordinarily include all the time during which an employee is required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty, or at a prescribed workplace. Many times, an employer will require the employee to start work or finish work before “punching the clock” or will not pay the employee for lunch or breaks. These actions can be violations of the Wage & Hour Laws.
There is a long list of the types of workers that fall within the requirements of the FLSA. These workers are referred to as “covered employees.” They include nurses, call center employees, customer service representatives, factory workers, construction workers, maintenance personnel, repairman, secretarial, clerical workers, and many other jobs. Most non-management employees are entitled to overtime wages and even salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay if they can earn less than $455 per week.
While most employees are covered under the Wage & Hour laws, there are certain occupations or jobs that are “exempt” from minimum wage and overtime requirements. This means that employers are not required to pay these specifically identified workers the minimum or overtime wages. The listing of exempt employees is contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 C.F.R. § 780.1) and includes many administrative employees, outside salesman, farm workers, railroad employees, students and many others. Many professionals, like physicians and lawyers, are also exempt and not entitled to overtime pay.
There are numerous tests that are used to determine whether a particular employee is covered under the Wage & Hour laws and is entitled to receive overtime pay. Each test has a number of factors that must be analyzed to make this determination. Two employees at the same company with slightly different positions and job duties may be treated separately under the FLSA.
Our Wage & Hour attorneys will carefully evaluate your job and your work situation to determine whether you are entitled to receive unpaid overtime pay. If your employer owes you overtime wages for work performed, even dating several years back, we can file a claim for you to recover the wages that you are owed. We will represent you under our No Fee Promise, which means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.
Call us today at (855) 754-2795 to speak with one of our experienced and qualified Wage & Hour lawyers about your case. You can also complete the FREE UNPAID OVERTIME CASE REVIEW BOX and an attorney will contact you shortly. There are strict time deadlines for filing a lawsuit so it is important that you call right now!