Overtime Lawyer Blog

Information technology workers are notoriously overworked. They put in long hours, field endless emergency calls in and out of regular hours, get no credit when things go well and take the blame when anything goes wrong. Moderns cities like Atlanta have more than their share of IT workers.

But because of an often- misunderstood FLSA computer worker exemption form overtime pay, IT workers are often shut out of overtime that they are actually entitled to. This exemption has become the subject of discussion boards among the computer literate, and IT workers have been suing their companies, and winning, for denied overtime.

Employers often misinterpret a very narrow FLSA overtime exemption that applies to some computer workers, specifically exempting from overtime pay employees who are involved in the application of systems analysis techniques, or who develop or design software or operating systems, or perform related functions.

Continue reading "Overtime Pay for Information Technology Workers" »

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In most overtime cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the courts interpret the exemptions to the law narrowly, in favor of the employees seeking to be paid overtime. However, in a recent overtime collective action case decided by the Eleventh Circuit (the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over the federal district courts of Georgia, Florida and Alabama), the court gave the firefighter exemption a broad interpretation and denied overtime to the plaintiffs. Gonzalez v. City of Deerfield Beach, Florida.

In the case, a group of 12 firefighters/EMTs and emergency rescue supervisors employed by the City of Deerfield Beach, Florida sued the city for unpaid overtime. Although the employees had all been trained in fire suppression, only one of the plaintiffs had actually engaged in putting out fires on the job. Nevertheless, the City argued that the plaintiffs were not entitled to overtime based on the exemption for employees of a “public agency engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities.” 29 U.S.C. § 207(k).

Continue reading "City Firefighters not Entitled to Overtime under Fair Labor Standards Act" »

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Hi again, friends. We launched the Atlanta Employment Lawyer Blog several months ago and are enjoying it so much, and getting such a great response, that we decided to launch another blog—the Overtime Lawyer Blog. This one will be devoted to tracking developments under the Fair Labor Standards Act—otherwise known as the FLSA. The FLSA is the federal wage and hour law that sets forth the federal minimum wage (which is currently $6.55 per hour) and also requires that most “blue-collar” employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek be paid overtime at a rate of one and one half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

As we explain in detail on our website, although the FLSA applies to virtually all U.S. employers, it does not guarantee that all employees receive overtime or the minimum wage. If you are exempt from the FLSA, then your employer does not have to pay you the minimum wage, and you can be required to work more than 40 hours in a week without overtime. Although the rules governing the exemptions are extremely complex, as a general rule, you are an exempt employee if you are paid on a salaried basis (in other words you receive a fixed amount of compensation every pay period no matter how much work you do) in the amount of at least $455 per week, and the type of work you perform is either executive, administrative, or professional. These types of exempt jobs basically involve work where you have substantial authority over the operations of your employer’s business, where you are involved in the administrative end of the business, or where your job requires an advanced degree. There are a few other miscellaneous exemptions that we discuss on our website, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s website also has great resources if you have any questions.

If however, you are not paid on a salaried basis, or your work is not executive, administrative, or professional in nature, then in most cases you are not exempt from the FLSA and you are entitled to overtime.

Continue reading "Welcome to the Overtime Lawyer Blog!" »

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