Employers frequently violate overtime laws. They designate employees as "exempt" from overtime when they should be classified as "non-exempt." The law generally requires that employees be paid time and a half for all hours over forty (40) in a week. Despite these laws, most of which date back to the 1930s, employees are frequently denied the overtime pay that they have earned and that they deserve.
If you don't manage at least two full time people (or 80 hours per week of part time staff), you are not an exempt manager.
If your work doesn't relate to the general administration of the company or if you don't exercise discretion and judgment on matters of significance, you aren't an exempt administrator.
If you don't have a professional degree (law, accounting, engineering, etc...) you aren't an exempt professional.
Am I entitled to overtime pay?
Do any of these sound familiar?
You are paid a “flat salary” no matter how many hours you work, but you are not really involved in management, supervision or decision making for the business.
You are required to clock out at your exact scheduled finish time, but continue working “off the clock” to finish your work, clean equipment or do a few extra work-related tasks.
You take work home with you, but do not include the time spent working at home on your time record and your employer permits this.
You work through your lunch break or eat lunch at your desk, but the time allowed for lunch is deducted on your time record.
You are paid “straight time” for all hours you work, even if you work over 40 hours in a single workweek.
Your hours are averaged over 2 or more workweeks to determine overtime. If you work 50 hours one week and 30 hours the next (for an average of 40 hours per week), you are paid for 80 regular hours and no overtime.
You are not paid for overtime hours because you didn’t “put in” or get permission to work, although your employer knows (or has reason to believe) you are doing the work.
You are treated as an “independent contractor,” but your work is largely controlled by the company.
Your employer doesn’t keep track of your hours or does so in a sloppy manner that results in you getting shorted on your time.
You are periodically paid a “bonus” or something “extra” for working overtime, instead of being paid time and a half for each hour worked over 40 in a single workweek.
Your bonuses, shift differential, commissions and/or other incentive pay are not included when calculating your overtime pay rate.
You don’t work for the government, but get “comp time” instead of overtime pay.
You are required to do a lot of traveling on behalf of your employer, either from job site to job site or overnight, but are not paid for some or all of the time spent traveling.
You are required to attend work-related meetings and/or training sessions, but these hours are not included on your weekly time record.
If any of these sound familiar, you may be owed overtime wages. You should not delay. There are time limitations on when employees can make claims for unpaid wages.
Please complete our confidential questionnaire to submit your inquiry.
Recent Cases
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a class of waiters who had been forced to share their tips with other employees at a restaurant were entitled to proceed together as a class. In this case, the employer/restaurant tried to argue that the waiters were too different to bring their case together, but the judge disagreed. Under federal law, wit staff cannot be forced to share their tips with managers or other employees who aren't usually tipped because they make less than the minimum wage per hour. Shahriar v. Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, Inc., 2011 WL 4436284 (2d Cir. Sept. 26, 2011).
A federal appeals court in New York recently reversed a judge who dismissed an employee's claim to overtime. In this case, the employee was required to keep track of his hours each week. He worked as a rep for a hardware company, and so he split his time between Home Depot stores and his home office where he had to communicate with his supervisors and do his paperwork. His supervisors frequently told him that he was not supposed to work more than 40 hours per week, and so he never recorded more than 40 hours even though he almost always worked more than 40. The trial court judge dismissed his claim, holding that because he had falsified the time sheets himself, he wasn't entitled to overtime for the hours he worked "off the clock." The appeals court reversed, holding that because it was the employer's policy that its employees not work more than 40 hours, he should be compensated for this time. Kuebel v. Black & Decker, Inc., 643 F.3d 352 (2d Cir. 2011).
A federal court in Connecticut recently held that a pizza delivery driver was an employee, and not an independent contractor, and that he could proceed with his case for overtime pay. The delivery driver worked 60 hours per week and was paid between $6 and $8 per hour- well below the minimum wage- in cash under the table. His employer attempted to argue that because the driver was an "independent contractor," he was not entitled to the minimum wage or overtime pay. The court held that the driver didn't have sufficient control over his employment and didn't have an independently established business and didn't have any special skills such to make him an independent contractor. Campos v. Zopounidis, 2011 WL 2971298 (D. Conn. July 20, 2011) (Bryant, J.).
A judge in federal court in Connecticut has allowed a class action for "Level One Managers" at SNET to go forward after SNET moved to have their state law claims dismissed. In that case, a group of employees who are paid a weekly salary and no overtime pay have challenged their employer's decision to deny them overtime pay. These employees are called managers even though most of what they do is strictly governed by SNET's rules and procedures. Perkins v. SNET, Case No. 3:07-cv-00967 (D. Conn. June 1, 2011) (Hall, J.).
The Fair Labor Standards Act contains an anti-retaliation provision that prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who complain that the employer is violating the FLSA by not paying overtime or minimum wage. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that this law protects employees who complain orally to their supervisors as well as in writing to the government. Thus, an employee who complained to his supervisor that he was not getting paid for the time he spent putting on his work clothes and taking them off, and was subsequently fired for causing trouble, could sue his employer under the FLSA. Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 2011 WL 977061 (U.S. March 22, 2011) (Breyer, J.).
The Hayber Law Firm, LLC, Employee Rights Advocates, 221 Main Street, Suite 502 Hartford, CT 06106
