Overtime Lawyer Blog

According to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Hilda Solis, the Obama administration is cracking down on violations of minimum wage and overtime laws under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In order to assist employees, the DOL is supporting a proposal that would require employers to provide workers more information concerning how their pay is calculated.

It is important to speak to an experienced wage and hour attorney if you have questions concerning your compensation or if believe you have been denied the minimum wage or overtime pay you are entitled to.

The FLSA sets forth minimum wage guidelines that affect nearly all employees, as well as overtime requirements. Under the FLSA, employees who are not exempt must be paid at a rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in any workweek. Although this is a simple sounding rule, it is the source of many employee complaints and lawsuits.

Under the new proposal, companies would be required to provide employee a report detailing how their pay and hours and determines in an effort to ensure companies compensate workers for overtime. Secretary Solis explained, “The idea is promoting more transparency so people can know how salaries are being calculated, [w]age theft occurs and it’s to make accountable businesses not playing by the rules.”

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In a precedent setting wage and hour case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2d District determined that New York City police department sergeants were entitled to overtime pay. In Edward Mullins et al v. City of New York the court evaluated whether the sergeants had been misclassified as “exempt” by the department in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Placing employees in the proper employment category is incredibly significant, and is the source of many employer pay violations. An experienced FLSA attorney may be able to review your classification and advise you regarding whether you are entitled to overtime pay. The FLSA provides that all employees who are not exempt must be paid overtime at a rate of one and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in any workweek. Workers who are exempt are not entitled to overtime, regardless of the number of hours worked. Exemptions apply to people who make a certain amount of money per week and perform certain types of work.

Here, the police sergeants were denied overtime pay pursuant to the “executive exemption,” which generally provides that if your duties are primarily management related, you are not entitled to overtime.

Subsequently the U.S. Department of Labor issued a revised interpretation of an FLSA exemption statute providing that employees with first-responder responsibilities - such as police officers and firefighters - were entitled to overtime pay.

As a result, the 2d Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the police sergeants were misclassified as exempt stating, “[W]hile directing operations at crime, fire or accident scenes’ appears, at first blush, to be a type of management that sergeants undertake, when their supervisory activities are viewed within the context of the first responder regulation as interpreted by the Secretary, it becomes apparent that, because these activities form part of sergeants’ primary field law enforcement duties, such supervision is not to be deemed ‘management.”

Based on this ruling, the police sergeants may be entitled to back pay dating back to April 2001.

Continue reading " Appeals Court Determines Police Sergeants And First-Responders Entitled To Overtime Pay in Edward Mullins et al v. City of New York " »

In a recent court of appeals decision out of the Fourth Circuit, the court determined that while current and former employees are entitled to protection from retaliation under the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA, prospective employees are not entitled to the same protection.

In Dellinger v. Science Applications International, the 4th Circuit evaluated a woman’s claim that she had been subject to retaliation. Here, Natalie Dellinger applied for a position at Science Applications International Corporation. Dellinger was offered the job with certain conditions such as passing a drug test and completing a security clearance. After she disclosed her lawsuit against a previous employer based on wage and hour violations, including minimum wage and overtime violations, her job offer was withdrawn.

Dellinger then filed n a lawsuit under the FLSA, alleging that she had been the victim of retaliation. The 4th Circuit denied Dellinger’s claim, finding that the FLSA’s protection against retaliation applies only to current employees, and as a result prospective employees cannot sue potential employers for retaliation. The Court focused on the nature of the “employee/employer” relationship, stating “[T]he anti-retaliation provision was meant to ensure that employees could sue to obtain minimum wages and maximum hours from their employers without the employers taking adverse action against them for the exercise of those rights.”

Although the retaliation provisions of the FLSA were not extended to prospective employees, the court also noted its desire not to enable future employers to discriminate against employees for exercising their rights under the FLSA.

Continue reading " Dellinger v. Science Applications International Determines Retaliation Provision Of Fair Labor Standards Act Applies To Current And Former Employees " »

Federal law sets forth some basic guidelines concerning minimum wage and overtime pay. Specifically, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides two key provisions that impact just about every employee who works for a wage. First, the FLSA requires that workers be paid minimum wage, currently $7.25 hour. Additionally federal law requires employers pay all non-exempt workers at a rate of one and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in any workweek.

These simple sounding rules lead to significant problems and confusion – especially when employers try to deny employees all the compensation they are entitled to by misclassifying non- exempt employees as exempt.

In a recent case out of Texas, American Airlines Federal Credit Union agreed to pay tellers, loan officers and customer service representatives over $80,000 after an investigation determined that the Credit Union violated the FLSA’s overtime provisions. Reports indicate that the credit union improperly classified its salaried employees as exempt, paying them “straight-time” wages rather than time and a half as required by the FLSA. The credit union also failed to maintain accurate records.

Determining whether you are exempt can be confusing. Exemptions are rules stating that if you make more than a certain amount of money or do a certain type of “white collar” work, your employer doesn’t need to pay you time and a half no matter how many hours you work in a week. If the exemptions don’t apply to you, then you are entitled to time and a half for every hour you work more than 40 in any workweek. Whether you are exempt is determined by the nature of work you do – rather than the title or label of your job.

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