Unpaid overtime wages violate the law in America, and you shouldn’t tolerate an employer who deprives you of the money you earned. Of course, in a court of law, the burden of proof is on the accuser, which means you’ll have to build a case carefully before filing a wage claim. Fortunately, the Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC is here to help you with that.
How to Define Unpaid Overtime Wages
The first thing you should do is make sure you know what’s meant by unpaid overtime. Employers must pay hourly workers time and a half their regular rate of pay for all the time they work beyond 40 hours per work week. In addition, some states mandate that employers pay employees overtime if they work over a certain number of hours in any workday. An employment attorney will know these state overtime rules and if these rules apply to your particular case.
Hypothetically, if you work 50 hours a week with a base wage of $15 per hour, then you would expect your gross pay to look like this: (40 hours X $15) + 10 hours X (1.5 X $15) = $825. This example does not include any bonus pay or other compensation in the base hourly rate. Employers must include bonuses, commissions, and other compensation in their regular pay rate for overtime calculation. We often find employers violate the law by not including such bonuses and commission pay into employee overtime pay rates.
Ways to Prove Your Case
Employees, of course, do not need any records in order to file an unpaid wages case. The law does not require employees to maintain these records. In fact, the law requires that employers maintain wage records. However, employees who have documents and other items that show unpaid wages generally have an easier time proving their case. There are plenty of effective ways to prove your lost wages including the following:
- Coworker Testimony
Eyewitness testimony can have significant value when trying to prove a case for unpaid overtime. Co-workers who have suffered the same unpaid wages and/or know about your non-payment can be valuable to proving your case. There is strength in numbers. An employer will likely take a case very seriously if there are many underpaid employees. - Personal Record Keeping
You should start tracking your work hours if you are working off the clock (not clocked into the timekeeping system) or you believe your employer is cutting your hours. You should also print or download your timesheets and paychecks if your employer maintains them online. Employers often immediately remove employee online access once employment ends. - Employer Records
The law requires your employer to keep records of your work hours, pay, and other terms and conditions of your employment. Your employment lawyer will obtain these records during your case. - Surveillance Evidence
Many large companies have camera surveillance all over their facility facilities as well as automated controlled-entry information such as badge swipes in the parking lot and/or entry door. Your employment attorney can obtain this information to establish when you arrived and left the workplace. - Computer User Data
Do you use a computer for your job? Log in and out records can establish an electronic paper trail that shows how long you’ve been working. We have also used VPN records to establish that employees were working from outside the office, but not paid for that work.
Responding to Lost Overtime Wages
If you’re tired of unpaid overtime, then it’s time to formulate a strategy for resolving the matter once and for all. Follow these general steps:
- Gather all the evidence you need reasonably can from the sources we mentioned above.
- Determine to your best knowledge if the employer refuses to pay other employees overtime.
- Obtain legal assistance from an employment attorney.
Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC – We Recover Unpaid Overtime Wages Nationwide
When it comes to lost wages of any sort, you don’t want to waste time because there’s a lot of your hard-earned money at stake.
Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC represents employees across the United States in unpaid overtime cases against some of the nation’s largest employers.
Contact us today to find out how to regain your unpaid overtime wages.