Employment
A federal district court in Midland, Texas has conditionally certified a case filed by oilfield workers against their employer for unpaid overtime. Plaintiffs were employed by Rig Power and M3P (collectively, “Defendants”)…
A former employee of Applied Consultants has filed a federal lawsuit against the company seeking unpaid overtime and other damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA. The lawsuit was filed in…
For years, oilfield companies have failed and refused to pay overtime to their Measurement While Drilling (MWD), Logging While Drilling (LWD), Field Service Specialist, Field Technician and Directional Driller positions. In…
A collective action lawsuit for unpaid overtime has been filed in federal court in Midland, Texas against Knight’s Inspection Services, LLC. Knight’s Inspection is an inspection company in the oil and gas…
Oilfield workers often travel from job site to job site driving both commercial and full-size trucks. Oilfield companies often refuse to pay oilfield workers overtime, claiming that they are exempt under what is…
The issue of whether dispatchers are due overtime pay has been heavily debated in recent years. Last month, a federal court in Houston, Texas ruled that dispatchers for an oil and petrochemicals…
With the drop in oil prices, many oil and gas companies in Midland, Odessa, and across West and South Texas have announced mass layoffs. Over the past several months, tens of thousands…
Appellate Court Concludes Timekeeping Policies Not An Absolute Defense to Overtime Pay Employers faced with overtime lawsuits often attempt to blame their workers for underreporting their hours. In a recent case, however,…
Are Radiology Technologists Owed Overtime? X-Ray Technicians, also known as radiology technicians, or RT’s, may be paid on an hourly, salary or per diem basis. Regardless of how they are paid, the…
Are Inspectors Owed Overtime Pay? Many inspectors of all types (pipeline inspectors, health and safety inspectors, quality control inspectors, field inspectors, environmental inspectors, construction inspectors, etc.) are paid a salary or day…
A federal court in San Antonio, Texas concluded that a Field Coordinator and Service Supervisor for an oil and gas services company was not exempt from overtime pay as a matter of…
As oil prices have dropped, and continue to remain low, many companies in the oil and gas industry are announcing that they are laying off oilfield workers. Several of the largest oil…
The number of overtime pay lawsuits in Texas continues to increase this year. In 2013, Texas workers filed 1,128 unpaid overtime lawsuits in federal court under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or…
When employers are sued for overtime pay, they sometimes attempt to assert counterclaims against the employee(s) to gain leverage in the lawsuit. Such efforts are almost always unsuccessful, as courts have ruled that…
The White House has announced plans to enact new rules on overtime pay that could impact thousands of Americans. In February, the Obama administration is expected to announce a proposed new rule…
If you currently or within the past three years have worked for an oil and gas or an oilfield services company, you may be wondering whether oilfield workers are owed overtime pay. …
The oil and gas industry is coming under increasing scrutiny for its failure to pay overtime to oilfield workers. In states that have seen the biggest increase in oil and gas drilling,…
According to a press release from the Department of Labor, Shell Oil Co. and Motiva Enterprises LLC have agreed to pay $4,470,764 in overtime wages to more than 2,500 chemical and refinery…
Overtime is the new normal for American workers. According to a new poll by Gallup, Americans are now working an “average” of 47 hours, with a growing number of American employees working…
Often, employees who report a workplace injury are viewed by their employers as a “problem” and they are sometimes fired for filing a worker’s compensation claim. Texas law makes it illegal for…