Overtime Lawyer Blog

Louisiana becomes the latest state to join forces with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to crack down on employers who misclassify workers. Whether a worker is classified as exempt v. non-exempt, or as an independent contractor or employee, may have a large impact on an individual’s take home pay, as well as other employee protections and benefits.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) employees who are not exempt must be paid overtime wages at a rate of one and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. However, if you are an independent contractor or are considered “exempt” your employer may not be required to pay overtime compensation.

If you are uncertain of your classification or believe your employer may have misclassified you – either mistakenly or intentionally – it is important to consult with a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour attorney immediately. You may be missing out on significant amounts back pay and overtime wages that you are entitled to.

Continue reading " State And Federal Government Join Forces To End Employee Misclassification " »

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is one of the oldest federal labor laws and provides many protections for workers. Among these are guarantees that workers receive minimum wage and that non-exempt workers receive overtime. Overtime compensation laws require that all 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 sounds straightforward, whether a worker is exempt v. non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay is often the subject of wage and hour cases. Exemptions are rules that provide that if you make more than a certain amount of money per week and perform certain types of work, your employer doesn’t have to pay you overtime regardless of how many hours you put in in a week. If you have questions about whether you are entitled to overtime pay, it is important to consult with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer to provide you crucial advice concerning your take home pay.

A recent overtime pay case has raised the question of whether a Chicago Tribune newspaper reporter is entitled to overtime compensation. According to news reports, the journalist was not paid for hundreds of hours of overtime pay throughout a little over a year. She was required to work between 50-60 hours a week, but only received 5 hours of overtime pay in 2011.

A representative of the journalist stated that reporters are considered exempt when they work as “creative professionals” whose work involves “invention, imagination and talent,” but here the woman covered school board meetings and the job didn’t meet these standards.

Continue reading " Are Journalists Entitled To Overtime Pay? " »

New reports that hotel food and beverage workers have reached a settlement unpaid wage claim. 150 current and former food and beverage workers sued the Crowne Plaza Hotel for its failure to reimburse them for tips they earned.

Laws concerning tips and tip-sharing can be complex. Consulting with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour attorney is important if you have questions about whether you are receiving all the money you are entitled to or if you believe you have been unfairly denied all of your wages.

Often, questions arise concerning the wages paid to workers and many times, tipped employees fail to receive all the wages they are entitled to. While both state and federal law require that workers receive are entitled to minimum wage, where workers earn more $30 a month in tips, in some situations employers may use a “tip credit” against their minimum wage obligation. However, employers cannot use the “tip credit” to avoid paying minimum wage. Additionally tips are only the property of the employee and employers cannot use tips other than as part of a tip credit.

Continue reading " Tip Sharing Law May Lead To Confusion And Backpay Lawsuits " »

A recent unpaid intern lawsuit filed in New York raises issues that every intern should be aware of including, when should I be paid?

The New York unpaid intern case involves a former intern who worked for the magazine Harper’s Bazaar. She has sued the magazine’s publisher, Hearst Corporation, for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, she asserts that her internship violated the FLSA because she was not paid. Accordingly to the lawsuit, she worked at least 40 hours a week, and sometimes as much as 55 hours/week without receiving pay or overtime wages.

The FLSA provides that all employees must be paid minimum wage and all non-exempt workers who put in more than 40 hours in a work week are entitled to overtime compensation at a rate of one and one-half times their standard rate of pay. The laws are different for internships, allowing for some “unpaid internships,” but the work relationship must meet very specific criteria or the employer may be found guilty of violating federal and state labor laws. If you have questions concerning an internship or any other concern regarding your pay, consulting with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour attorney is important to ensure you receive the pay you deserve.

As stated in the lawsuit “unpaid interns are becoming the modern-day equivalent of entry-level employees, except that employers are not paying them for the many hours they work. Employers' failure to compensate interns for their work, and the prevalence of the practice nationwide, curtails opportunities for employment, fosters class divisions between those who can afford to work for no wage and those who cannot, and indirectly contributes to rising unemployment."

Continue reading " When Is An Unpaid Internship Illegal? " »