Unpaid overtime or off-the-clock work occurs when employers require employees to work when they are not clocked into the employers’ timekeeping system. Federal and state wage and hour laws require employers to pay covered employees for all hours worked including one and one-half times their regular rate for any hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek.
The overtime rules apply to all nonexempt employees. One mistake that employers often make is pretending that the overtime rules do not apply to salaried employees. This is often false. However, many salaried employees are eligible to receive overtime pay under the federal overtime law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Now, if an employee has not received all of his or her wages, that employee can take legal action and sue the employer for unpaid wages including overtime. The employee ultimately must prove that he or she is entitled to unpaid wages including overtime.
Employees are not required to provide written records of hours worked in order to file an unpaid wages case. Employees typically do not keep records of the hours they have worked or the wages they’re receiving, instead, relying on the employer and the payroll service it employs to carry out that function. It is for this reason why federal law mandates employers to properly keep precise records of their employees’ hours and wages paid. When the employer fails to keep accurate employee time records, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to disprove the employees’ best memory of hours worked. Again, employees do not need contemporaneous records of hours worked to file an unpaid wages case.
Often, your employment attorney can establish your hours worked in many different ways. For example, you many have answered work-related emails or phone calls while not clocked in to the employers’ timekeeping system. Your attorney can then use the emails and/or phone records to establish the unpaid work.
If you have an unpaid wages case, you should consider the following steps.
1. Talk to your employer
You may try to settle the problem with your employer first before taking any other steps. It just might have been a clerical error that led to the discrepancy in your pay. However, should this tactic fail, you should next consult with an employment lawyer to see if you could pursue a case to recover your unpaid wages.
2. Pursuing a state agency claim
These claims are handled by the Department of Labor. The first step is to file a form which describes your particular situation and lost wages. On this, you are going to be asked to provide details such as personal information, work history, and information regarding your employer. Also, you must likely provide some kind of evidence to support your claim such as time notes and check stubs.
3. Pursue a legal case with an attorney
Another course of action you can take is to hire an employment lawyer and pursue a case. Employment lawyers specialize in unpaid wage cases and their have ample experience would let them determine whether a case is worth pushing forward or not.
If your employer has failed to pay you properly for overtime work, you always have the right to file a lawsuit. For that, you need the help of experienced employment attorneys who are going to fight for your pay rights. You can find such lawyers at the Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC. To learn more, visit their website at https://www.rmlegalgroup.com/.