KNOW YOUR RIGHT - OVERTIME LAW AND ITS EXEMPTIONS

Overtime is basically when an employee has to work additional hours than the designated hours of the work. The employers are required to pay for overtime worked by their employees. As per the United States Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the employers violating the overtime law can face overtime lawsuit for unpaid wages. 

• OVERTIME LAWS:

The overtime law states that the employees are to be paid at least the minimum wage for standard hours worked and overtime pay for the extra hours worked. The overtime pay hhs to be one and half times the regular rate of the salary. The standard salary also includes the bonuses and additional benefits and according to that, normal salary is calculated. 

• MINIMIZED LABOR LAWS:
  Sometimes, the employers purposely do not pay the workers to reduce the labor cost. This is considered illegal and it builds grounds for the lawsuit which the employee can pursue if they have been not given:

• minimum wages,
• refusal of overtime wages,
• wrongfully mislead the employee to believe they do not deserve the overtime pay,
• docked the hours worked by the employee to avoid paying them overtime pay.

If the employer violate the overtime laws, then a worker can take legal consultant for deciding the steps he can take for getting the deserving pay. If all the employees in an organization are not getting the overtime pay, then a class-action lawsuit can be filed against the employer for the unfair treatment.

• EXEMPTIONS:
  The exemptions for overtime laws include the workers that fall under the executive and administrative category. There are two aspects that are considered for an employee to get an exemption from overtime law:

Salary Exemption:

• First one is the salary basis in which the employee is paid salary on the basis of the weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis and it is fixed with no deductions because of any reason including the quantity and quality of work.

• The full time employees earning under $47,476 annually will be considered eligible for the overtime pay.

Job Description:

• The second basis for the overtime law exemption is the type of job description an employee has.

• The administrative and executive exemptions are the most common exemptions in the overtime law. The others are more complicated to calculate.

• The executive exemption is given to the employees who have management positions in the business, where they have responsibility of hiring or firing the employees and offer valuable recommendations to the department.

• The type of work performed by the employee regardless of the job description decided whether or not you are an exempt employee. It differs from case to case.

The money that is considered as back pay according to the FLSA is the difference in the money you were to be paid for the overtime hours worked and the wages you were paid. If you file the lawsuit and are successfully able to win the case, then you are entitled to the double the amount of back-pay that you were originally supposed to be paid along with the attorney fees.

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Not Getting Paid For Overtime? It's Time To Call Law Firm!

When you work overtime, you expect to be paid for it. And that includes wages above your salary. Per hour you get paid extra money and if your employer is cheating you out of your earned salary, it time to call overtime law firm. They will make sure that you get not only your salary but also the extra compensation for harassment you went through. If you are looking for compensation, hen there few important factors you need to keep in mind:

Proof of the overtime hours:

Having a solid proof of the time you worked for your company  is the utmost important thing. Otherwise you would be denied your right and could even lose in the court.

Ask your employer for the compensation:

You have the legal right to ask your employer the extra compensation and if he is refusing to grant your pay, then ask your lawyer. He will contact your office and explain them to pay your wages or legal action would be taken against them.

Legal law:

Businesses pay time and half rate to employees who put in 40 hours in a  week. Whether the employee is part time or full time if you are working extra hours, then employer has to pay additional wages.

Some of the companies try to misrepresent the federal law by tricking the employees to work extra as a favor to your company. And sometimes employees do it as a favor to their superior. Search carefully for the overtime law firms in your area. Most of the attorney provide free consultation regarding your case and you pay them if you win the case and you got your worth.

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Know Your Rights!- What If You Aren't Getting Compensated For Your Overtime?

Overtime hours worked by the employees have to be compensated from the employer as it is their right. And if the employer is cutting losses and refusing to pay for overtime, it is time to file a lawsuit for your unpaid wages. There are different factors that play a part for you to claim a legit compensation.

Standard minimum wages:

You must be paid the minimum wage for the hours you have worked for or the agreed wage at the time of contract. And if your employer is refusing to pay that rate, then you should file a lawsuit.

Overtime wages:

If you are working overtime, then you should be paid extra than the normal wages. Under the law governed differently by different states, the overtime wages have to paid if the forty hour weekly limit of the employee is being exceeded and the wages should be one hundred fifty percent of your regular rate. And if your employer is failing to pay you overtime, then you will have legit claim to pursue lawsuit against your employer.  

 Penalty fees:

By law, the employer is to pay additional penalty along with the unpaid wages. The attorney fees also has to be paid in addition to the the money you spend in  pursuing the case. If you win the lawsuit, then every additional cost you spent for the case, the penalty, the overtime pay will have to be paid to you.

Rate of interest:

State laws have regulations regarding the unpaid or overtimes wages and one has to be paid along with the rate of interest which is liquidated damage. The amount that is charged over the unpaid wages is set as lieu of interest, to be awarded to employee who has successfully proven the charges against the employer under federal law.

So these are the some basic overtime payment regulations and if your employer is breaking the law by violating the agreement, it is time to hire a law firm for filing the lawsuit.

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What are the wage rights of computer professionals in the US?

Computers have taken over the world and the demand of computer professionals has increased accordingly. In the US, there are millions of people that work in computer related fields. But, what are their wage rights? How do computer professional fare when it comes to wages? Are they covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

Here are the wages and overtime related details that an IT worker in the US needs to know. Please note that certain states may have additional protections, like Pennsylvania, which may demand that computer professionals receive overtime.

According to law, people on selected careers in IT industry may be exempt from overtime if their classification and actual job duties dictate it. They include –

• Computer systems analysts
• Programmers
• Software engineers
• Other equally skilled professionals in this field

But, this exemption is for those workers that are receiving

• At least $455 per week (salary basis)
• At least $27.63 per hour

Their designation or job titles have nothing to do with this exemption, but the substantive work means everything. For example, if you hire a computer professional for $455 a week and make him or her work 60 hours and then just have them clean the floors, then they would not be entitled to the exemption. If they do actual programming, then they might. But be warned, in certain states the workers may still be entitled to overtime.

The Employees’ responsibilities play an essential role in this exception to overtime in the regulations. The Federal Law has demarcated several job responsibilities and if your work matches these pre-defined options, then you are most like exempt from overtime under Federal laws. These job responsibilities include –

• Systems’ analysis techniques and process application
• System’s design & development, documentation
• System’s analysis, testing or modification
• Computer program’s design, testing, and more

An IT worker that performs the above mentioned job responsibilities do not fall under federal law.

Furthermore, workers that heavily depend on computers for their work still fall under the protections of the minimum wages and overtime laws of the FLSA. But, if employers fails to show that the employee is properly exempt under the law, then the worker has every right to for overtime pay for the extra hours and work.

Many IT workers think that if they are salaried, then they are not eligible for overtime. In addition, they also think that they are not entitled to overtime. If your occupation falls under the minimum wages and overtime laws, then you have the right to receive fair payments. If the employer refuses to pay you proper amount, then you should contact an unpaid wages lawyer.

Attorneys can help you in getting your fair payments, back wages, as well as compensations for the damages (if required). The Attorneys can also guide you regarding state’s payment laws since some states mandate that even IT professionals are paid properly.

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Celebrities and unpaid wages – A long history!

Unpaid wages are a serious problem that have been increasingly been reported in different industries and the film and television industry is not an exception. Every once in a while cases emerge where a celebrity faces an overtime lawsuit due to unpaid wages. There is a long list of these cases.

Recently, a lawsuit was filed against the famous singer and musician Courtney Love. A claim was made by a writer for not receiving payments for his work on the singer’s biography. Previously, Ms. Love’s former aid took legal action against the singer for breach of contract and unpaid salary, as well as accusations of wrongful termination. Just because someone makes a claim for wages, doesn’t mean they are correct, but there is also the perception by celebrities and industries such as the NFL that is a privilege to even be affiliated with them, so they may try to cajole individuals to do work for little or no pay. 

Renowned chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Los Angeles (LA) was sued for unpaid salaries and overtime. This lawsuit was filed by the former employees of restaurant. In 2010, the famous singer Rihanna also faced the allegation of unpaid wages by her trainer. Trainer claimed that the singer owes her almost $26,100 for personal training services.

Comedian and actress Wendy Williams faced the allegation of not paying fair salaries to an ex-intern. An unpaid wages complaint was made against the singer and songwriter Anita Baker by her lawyer. In this lawsuit, the lawyer demanded $69,000.

It is not only celebrities that face allegations of not paying fair payments to their employees. Sometimes, even stars are stuck in the same situation. Recently soccer star Ivan Franjic left the Russian club Torpedo Moscow. He left this club over the claims of not receiving proper payments.

All these cases show that even celebrities are not safe from unfair payments and lawsuits. If you have also fallen victim to this situation, no matter who the employer is, then you should immediately contact an experienced and professional unpaid wages and overtime lawyer. An experienced attorney can help you in getting your wages for the hours worked and possibly even double or triple damages, plus attorney’s fees.

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Common Wage and Hour Violation Mistakes that Every Employer Must Avoid

With each passing year, the numbers of wage and hour violation cases are increasing. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), it is mandatory for employers to pay their employees correctly, based on the numbers of hours worked. In case your employer fails to comply with the FLSA guidelines, you have the right to file a legal claim with the assiatance of unpaid overtime lawyers.

 

To have a better understanding of the wage and hour violations and to ensure that you don’t become a victim, you should go through the information given below.

• Many employers deliberately misclassify their workers as exempt from overtime and claim they are salaried. However, it is necessary for employers to make sure that the job duties of workers is in accordance with one of the exemptions from overtime, before they can be classified as exempt. The employer must prove the exemption and everyone has a different threshold to meet. Don’t let the employer trick you into thinking you are salaried and not entitled to overtime – in fact, you may very well still be entitled to it.
• There are certain situations in which employers need to pay for the travel time, but unfortunately, not many employers bother about it. If an employee has been asked to come back at work because of an urgent work, travel time may be compensable in such situations. There are also few other situations when workers are entitled to receive compensation for the travel time. Sometimes going to the first or last job site is not compensable, but traveling to other sites between the first and last generally is.
• Many employers also take advantage of unpaid breaks. According to FLSA, any break under 20 minutes should be paid. For meal breaks the employee is entitled to a free uninterrupted meal time. If the employer doesn’t pay for meal time, but doesn’t relieve the employee fully from their duties, the employee may be entitled to overtime.
• Not paying overtime to employees is one of the most crucial wage and hour violation mistakes. However, some of them do it deliberately while others do it unintentionally. Generally, it is done to save money so the owners make more, the shareholders make more or the managers receive a bigger bonus by keeping time under control.
• Improper record keeping is another mistake which can be used against the employer.

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