Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC would like to address the most common questions we receive regarding overtime compensation. We find that many American employees do not know the full extent of their rights in the workplace. This would include everything from discrimination practices to hiring/firing procedures, but here we’d like to focus on the specific problem of unpaid overtime wages.
This article addresses many common issues employees throughout the United States ask us about overtime compensation and recovering it.
FAQs for Overtime Compensation
These are the most common overtime FAQs.
- Does everybody get paid time-and-a-half when their work exceeds 40 hours per week?
Overtime eligibility depends on whether you are exempt or non-exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and any applicable state overtime laws. Those who are exempt from overtime pay are usually salaried employees like managers, administrators, and executives. They are not legally required to receive overtime. If you are non-exempt from FLSA, like most hourly workers, that means your employer MUST pay you for all work time and 1 ½ time your regular wage rate whenever your work exceeds the 40-hour threshold. Your overtime pay rate must include all earned bonuses, commissions, and shift differentials. - Are there different overtime rules in my state?
It depends on which state you reside in. Many have no other additional regulatory requirements regarding overtime pay, but others do. California, for example, requires employers to pay employees double whenever their daily hour total exceeds 12 hours. An employment attorney can discuss with you how any state overtime law impacts your potential overtime claim. - Do my break times contribute to my hourly total and count towards overtime?
This also varies by state. In general, whenever a company promises to pay for breaks (according to its procedures), it cannot deprive you of a paid break, and the employer must include any break time as work time. Always check your paycheck and keep tabs on how many hours you work each day to make sure you’re not missing paid break time or any other work time. - What happens if I check my pay stub, and it doesn’t reflect overtime pay?
If you see any hours missing from your paycheck (even if it’s not enough to merit overtime), notify your supervisor of the discrepancy if you feel comfortable doing so. The employer is required to fix clerical errors and at least pay you retroactively. Otherwise, you should contact an employment attorney for a thorough discussion of your case.
Other Overtime Compensation & Wage Issues
Another common frustration for employees comes from manipulative job misclassifications. You can find out more about this in our section on assistant managers. Sometimes, employers try to game the system by “promoting” an hourly employee to a low-paying salaried position, only to avoid paying overtime. This also commonly occurs in the health care and mortgage professional industries.
This is where you’ll find somebody who’s an assistant manager, works very long hours, but only makes about $30,000 a year when they used to do better as an hourly worker getting overtime.
The FLSA sets the minimum exempt salary at $35,568 annually (or $684 weekly). As such, employers must pay employees more than $35,568 in yearly salary, or those employees as legally entitled to overtime pay.
How Do You Recover Lost Overtime Wages?
This is arguably the most pressing question employees contact us with across the country. If you suspect you’ve lost money because of unpaid overtime, then you should discuss it with your employer or contact an employment attorney.
We help clients whose employers refuse to pay them all wages earned including overtime. We assist employees across the United States recovery overtime pay they have earned through their hard work. You should contact us for a free consultation if you believe your employer owes you unpaid overtime. We’re more than happy to see if to evaluate your overtime wage claim.
Contact Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC For Help with Any Wage Claims
We represent employees throughout the United States in overtime claims. Common claims we assert are illegal unpaid overtime based upon incorrectly classifying employees as salaried exempt and not paying them overtime, working employees off the clock, not paying employees for meal periods that they work through, and not including bonuses, commissions, and other pay into employees’ overtime pay rates.
Contact us today to learn more about overtime compensation and how you can recover the unpaid overtime you worked so hard to earn.