Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) says that an employee who works over 40 hours in a workweek is entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 hours. Typically, overtime compensation under the FLSA is to be paid at time and one-half of the employee’s hourly rate. If the employee is not paid overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek, he or she may be entitled to recover that overtime pay, along with liquidated damages (doubling the amount owed to the employee) and attorney fees.
The Fair Labor Standards Act provides protection for non-exempt employees who do not receive the correct amount of overtime pay. However, there are several exemptions to the FLSA. Exemptions apply to those people who are NOT protected by the overtime provisions of the FLSA and are therefore NOT entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. For example, professional employees are exempt from the FLSA are are not entitled to overtime pay. Other examples are administrative employees and certain computer employees. For information on other exemptions, visit the Department of Labor.
The FLSA is complex and confusing for employers and employees alike. Because of this, employers often misclassify employees as “exempt” when they truly are not. Employers also classify employees as independent contractors when they are actually non-exempt employees. Misclassification results in denial of overtime pay.
What is misclassification?
Your job title does not dictate whether you are entitled to overtime pay. This is a common mistake employers make so it is important for you, the employee, to really pay attention to your job duties, not your job title. Your job duties dictate whether you should be paid overtime.
What if I am paid a salary and not on an hourly basis?
Bottom line
Take a good look at the job duties you are performing. If you think you may be entitled to overtime pay, contact us and we can help.