The answer, of course, is that it depends.\u00a0 Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are required to pay employees one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked above forty in any given week.\u00a0 The two most common issues that I see when evaluating overtime pay cases are (1) whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor; and (2) whether the worker is exempt from overtime pay under the exemptions of the FLSA.\u00a0 For more detailed discussions of these issues, click here<\/a> and here<\/a>.\u00a0 The answers to these questions are often highly fact-specific and require an attorney with a strong knowledge of unpaid overtime laws.\u00a0 As you can see from my blog<\/a>, I have written extensively on FLSA issues, and I focus on representing workers who are owed overtime wages.\u00a0 I provide a free consultation for all workers with overtime pay questions.<\/p>\r\n Some employment attorneys charge by the hour.\u00a0 Others require their clients to pay fees and expenses related to filing and pursuing an unpaid overtime case.\u00a0 I do not.\u00a0 The overtime cases that I accept are handled on a contingency fee basis. \u00a0In other words, if my clients do not recover money, I do not get paid. \u00a0For more information on my approach to overtime cases, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Generally, you have two choices.\u00a0 You can hire a private attorney to pursue a claim, or you can file a complaint with a government agency.\u00a0 I strongly suggest that anyone with an overtime pay issues consider hiring an attorney who will fight to get the most for their client rather than relying on a government bureaucrat with no interest in their case.\u00a0 For more information on how to pursue an overtime case, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Workers who win their overtime case are allowed to recover all of their overtime wages, liquidated damages in an equal amount, and their attorney\u2019s fees.\u00a0 For more information on remedies available in an overtime case, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n Overtime laws generally permit recovery for work performed two years or less from the date a lawsuit is filed, though a worker may be able to recover up to three years of overtime wages if the court determines that the employer willfully violated overtime laws.\u00a0 It is important to act as soon as you believe your overtime pay rights have been violated because nothing but the filing of a lawsuit stops the clock from running on your overtime claims. Merely complaining to your employer, or a government agency does not stop the clock.<\/p>\r\n In most cases a worker that wins an overtime case is entitled to an have their actual damages doubled. These \u201cdouble damages\u201d are also called liquidated damages. The same willfulness standard for the three-year statute of limitations to apply also applies to the issue of whether liquidated damages should be awarded. The award of liquidated damages is mandatory unless employer shows that (1) act or omission giving rise to violation was in good faith and (2) he had reasonable grounds for believing that his act or omission was not a violation of the overtime laws. This is a very difficult burden for the employer to meet.<\/p>\r\n One of the most common misconceptions among workers is that they have to be a current employee to get back overtime wages.\u00a0 THIS IS NOT TRUE!\u00a0<\/b> Workers can sue their former employers, as long as they have worked for them within the past 2-3 years.\u00a0 However, because of the time limitations for filing overtime pay claims, former employees must speak to an overtime attorney quickly to avoid losing their legal rights.<\/p>\r\n Workers cannot waive their rights to overtime pay.\u00a0 Any agreement that seeks to contractually limit a worker\u2019s right to overtime pay is void and will not be enforced.\u00a0 Overtime pay is the law – it cannot be altered by agreement.<\/p>\r\n Workers often worry that they will not be able to win their overtime case if they do not have their time sheets.\u00a0 This is not true.\u00a0 A worker can obtain time sheets from his or her current or former employer through discovery in an overtime lawsuit.\u00a0 And if the employer has lost, destroyed, or failed to keep time records, this is an additional violation of the overtime laws and the burden will fall on the employer to disprove the number of overtime hours that the worker claims to have worked.<\/p>\r\n Yes.\u00a0 Employers sometimes seek to hide their scheme to cheat their workers out of overtime by paying in cash.\u00a0 This does not work.\u00a0 Employers are required by law to keep records of how much their workers are paid, and how their pay is calculated.\u00a0 If they do not, this may actually benefit the worker\u2019s overtime case.<\/p>\r\n The Fair Labor Standards Act contains an anti-retaliation provision, which makes it illegal for any employer to \u201cdischarge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to [overtime pay].\u201d\u00a0 Employees are protected regardless of whether the complaint is made orally or in writing. Some courts have ruled that internal complaints to an employer are also protected.\u00a0 However, I strongly recommend that anyone with overtime pay concerns speak to an overtime attorney who can make sure that their legal rights are protected.<\/p>\r\n As with the first question, it depends.\u00a0 Just because an employee is paid on a salary basis does not mean that they are not eligible for overtime pay.\u00a0 In fact, many employees that are paid a salary must be paid overtime.\u00a0 As discussed in more detail here, the issue is whether the worker falls within one of the FLSA\u2019s overtime wage exemptions.\u00a0 An experienced overtime attorney can hep you determine whether you are eligible for overtime pay.\u00a0 Secretaries, loan officers, repair technicians, paralegals, assistant managers, inspectors, installers and dispatchers are just a few of the types of jobs that are sometimes paid a salary but may also be eligible for overtime pay.\u00a0 If you are paid a salary and have questions about your rights to unpaid overtime, call me for a free consultation.<\/p>\r\n These are two ways of asking the same question.\u00a0 Employers often misclassify their workers as independent contractors or \u201c1099 workers\u201d to avoid paying employment taxes and overtime wages.\u00a0 This does not mean that the workers are not due overtime pay.\u00a0 As described more fully here<\/a>, as a general matter, if a worker works full time for a company and is paid by the hour, he or she is an employee, not an independent contractor, and should receive overtime wages.\u00a0 If this describes your situation, call me so we can discuss your legal rights.<\/p>\r\n Private companies cannot as a general matter give their employees \u201ccomp time\u201d instead of overtime pay.\u00a0 The FLSA requires private companies to give their workers time-and-a-half for each hour worked above forty in any given week.\u00a0 Call me for a free consultation if your employer has a policy of giving \u201ccomp time\u201d instead of overtime pay.<\/p>\r\n As a general matter, travel from home to work does not count as time worked for overtime purposes.\u00a0 However, time spent traveling from a central office to a job site or from one job site to another does count as time worked and should be included when calculating overtime pay.\u00a0 I have written a more detailed blog post on this issue here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n The FLSA allows workers to go in on a lawsuit together.\u00a0 It is not unusual for me to represent\u00a0 several employees in the same suit.\u00a0 The FLSA allows a worker to file a \u201ccollective action,\u201d in which a worker files suit on behalf of himself or herself and on behalf of other, similarly situated workers.\u00a0 Collective actions can be a powerful and effective tool in recovering overtime wages, since if the court decides to certify the collective class, all similarly situated workers will receive notice of the lawsuit and will be permitted to join it.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Am I owed unpaid overtime? The answer, of course, is that it depends.\u00a0 Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are required to pay employees one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked above forty in any given week.\u00a0 The two most common issues that I see when evaluating overtime pay cases…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":563,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/688\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfwcounsel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How much does an overtime attorney cost?<\/h2>\r\n
How can I get overtime pay I am owed?<\/h2>\r\n
What am I entitled to recover if I win my overtime case?<\/h2>\r\n
How long do I have to bring a claim for unpaid overtime?<\/h2>\r\n
What are liquidated damages?<\/h2>\r\n
Can I only bring claims for unpaid compensation against a current employer?<\/h2>\r\n
Am I entitled to bring a claim for unpaid overtime wages if I made an agreement with my employer to work overtime but not to be paid time-and-a-half?<\/h2>\r\n
Can I bring a case for unpaid overtime if I do not have my time records?<\/h2>\r\n
Do I have a claim for unpaid overtime if I was paid in cash?<\/h2>\r\n
If I claim my overtime wages, can my employer retaliate against me?<\/h2>\r\n
Are salaried employees eligible for overtime wages?<\/h2>\r\n
If my employer issued me a 1099, can I still pursue an unpaid overtime case?<\/h2>\r\n
I’m an independent contractor, should I be getting overtime wages?<\/h2>\r\n
Can I get overtime pay if my employer gave me comp time off for my overtime hours?<\/h2>\r\n
Am I entitled to be paid for my travel time?<\/h2>\r\n
What if other workers want to join the unpaid overtime lawsuit?<\/h2>\r\n