WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former impress manager is suing Office Depot for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The manager claims the company failed to pay overtime when he, and other impress managers, worked more than 40 hours each week. In the proposed class action overtime claim he filed in Florida federal court, the former manager is seeking to represent current and former impress managers who have worked for OfficeMax or Office Depot.
The Manager’s Claim
Brian Danley, the impress manager who filed the claim, alleges Office Depot wrongfully misclassified impress managers as exempt from overtime. According to his lawsuit, impress managers performed substantially similar tasks as non-exempt employees who received hourly wages and overtime pay. These tasks included selling merchandise, printing, collating and faxing documents, customer service, working the cash registers, cleaning the store, placing customer orders, and unloading trucks.
He claims not only do the managers’ responsibilities not meet the level required for overtime exemption, Office Depot failed to perform assessments of each impress manager’s responsibilities before applying the exemption. Danley alleges the company had a blanket policy of exempting all impress managers from overtime. In addition to his overtime pay claims, Danley also alleges Office Depot did not keep accurate time records. This compounds the potential violations Office Depot committed.
Assessing Overtime
The FLSA requires employers to assess each position, not job title, prior to exempting the individual in that position from overtime pay. The individual assessment prevents employers from classifying large groups of employees as exempt and ignoring the realities of the actual responsibilities the individuals may have at a given location. For instance, in this case, while it is possible that impress managers in some stores do have responsibilities that would qualify them as exempt, managers like Danley do not and should not be exempt.
After an assessment of the individual’s position, an employer may classify the employee as exempt, if the majority of their job tasks and responsibilities are the management of an enterprise or recognized department. This means that an exempt employee can perform tasks similar to those of hourly employees, but it must not be the primary or regular job. In addition to the managerial responsibilities, the employee must regularly direct the actions of two or more employees and have the authority to hire or fire, or at least have their recommendations taken into consideration when hiring or firing occurs.
It can be difficult to determine if your job responsibilities qualify for exempt status, which can lead your employer to misclassify you as exempt. If you believe you are primarily performing the tasks of hourly employees and your employer has misclassified your position, our experienced team of overtime pay lawyers can evaluate your situation and discuss your options today at (855) 754-2795. Or you can complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our knowledgeable legal team will assess your case. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.