Unpaid Overtime Attorneys

The relationship between an employee and their employer is not always what it should be. What should it be? Well, you do your job, and your employer pays you. Whether you signed a written contract or not, there is an agreement between you and your employer. You have responsibilities at work. You also have rights. Your employer has responsibilities and rights, too. Your employer must also obey all the laws regulating how employers pay their workers.

Yes, the government created laws to make employers treat their employees fairly.

If you are lucky to have an employer who respects and treats you fairly, that’s excellent. However, if you are one of the millions of employees who work for an employer who thinks they can mistreat you, we’re sorry. We know how that feels. Our employment law attorneys work with employees who encounter all sorts of mistreatment at work, from discrimination to unpaid overtime wages. We know that when you give your time, efforts,  muscle, creativity, loyalty, passion, and yourself to your job, but your employer fails to appreciate that and denies you your rights, it really hurts.

When people get hurt, we help them. We assess the situation, apply laws, and take action. If the action means we file a lawsuit on your behalf to get you what you deserve, then that is what we do. There are federal laws and state laws that apply when considering an unpaid overtime lawsuit, though state laws vary. We practice nationwide, so we know the laws in every state. So when you ask, “are there any unpaid overtime lawyers near me?” The answer is always yes. We are near you and eager to help you.

What is Overtime?

Overtime refers to all the time that exceeds 40 hours in one week.

Overtime Laws

No matter when you work, on what day your work week starts, or what shift you work, a federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to the vast majority of employees in the United States. The FLSA ensures fair pay for U.S. workers. It sets rules for minimum wage, overtime, record-keeping, and child labor. Employers break this law when they deny overtime pay.

Overtime Rights of Employees

Employees are entitled to overtime pay. Period.  Work and worker exploitation have a long history in the United States. Congress passed the FLSA in 1940 and made the 40-hour workweek the law. A 40-hour workweek aims to balance productivity with well-being, prevent worker exploitation, and ensure time for rest, family, and personal time. Any time an employee’s workweek exceeds 40 hours, they have rights.

How do You Calculate Unpaid Overtime?

Under the FLSA: 

• You must make at least $7.25 per hour. This is the current minimum wage. Some states even have a higher minimum wage.
• For tipped employees making at least $30 monthly in tips, employers can pay below minimum wage but must compensate if total earnings fall short of the minimum wage.
• Overtime pay is 1.5 times your regular pay rate.
• By law, overtime pay is required when you work more than 40 hours a week. Your employer must pay you overtime pay when you work more than 40 hours per week.
• Employers must keep detailed employee records, including personal information, occupation, work hours, pay rates, and wages. If there comes a time when we have to contact your employer to ask for your timesheets, the FLSA guarantees they’ll have them. If not, you are entitled to compensation.

Contact an unpaid overtime lawyer if you suspect your employer is violating FLSA.

What Employees Are Exempt From Overtime Pay

Some employees, called exempt employees, are not entitled to overtime pay. Exempt employees are executives, professionals with special education, outside salespeople, and some computer-related positions. These exempt employees usually perform job duties that are managerial, administrative, or specialized in nature and receive a salary rather than hourly wages.

How Much Can You Recover?

You can recover the money owed you. (See below.)  You can also contact an unpaid overtime attorney who can recover that and more through a lawsuit.  If your employer does not pay you enough, they likely do not pay anyone enough. We can review your situation and take appropriate legal action. In a lawsuit, you not only recover the unpaid overtime but you can recover additional damages also. Under the FLSA, employees can get “liquidated damages,” sometimes equal to triple the amount of unpaid overtime, effectively tripling the compensation owed.

Moreover, if the court finds that your employer did not pay you enough on purpose, you might recover overtime pay up to three years back along with legal fees and court costs. Some courts will also give you punitive damages if they find that your employer treat you unfairly after you reported the unpaid overtime.

Common Ways Employers Violate Overtime Law

Employers have many creative ways to deny workers their rightful overtime pay.

• Exempt versus Non-exempt. A common method is misclassifying employees as “exempt” when the employee should be classified as “non-exempt.” Exempt employees are usually salaried, must make a certain amount, and have some managerial duties. An employer might say, “Given your managerial role, you’re exempt from overtime,” even if the employee doesn't have genuine managerial responsibilities. Only non-exempt employees qualify for overtime; exempt employees include certain professionals earning at least $684 per week, outside sales staff, and some computer-related roles.
• Off-the-Clock Work. Some bosses will also require their employees to do “off-the-clock” work. An employer might casually mention, “Can you just wrap this up? It shouldn't take too long, so no need to clock in.” Some employers manipulate time records, shaving off minutes or hours from the actual time worked, with statements like, “We only count hours in 15-minute increments, so that extra 10 minutes doesn't count.” Another example is employers not paying for travel time, like when you have to travel to a job site, ask you to work through breaks, and cut lunch breaks short. Cutting a lunch break 10 minutes short every day for a year is worth about a week and a half of pay.
• Arithmetic Mistakes. Sometimes, employers just miscalculate overtime. They may manufacture an unnecessarily complicated compensation system or pay you based on your productivity. But what you earn must be at least the equivalent of the pay outlined in the labor laws.
• Money Alternatives. Employers may also offer “comp time” instead of actual overtime pay, suggesting time off as compensation for extra hours worked, “We'll give you time off next week for the extra hours now.” The FLSA makes paying an employee 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 hours per week. Comp time is not that.

These practices not only ignore your rights, but they also violate labor laws and leave you underpaid for your time and effort. If you have any questions about this or have heard your boss say this to you, contact an unpaid overtime lawyer.

What Can You Do If You Are Denied Overtime Pay

If your employer does not pay you overtime or has not paid you the right amount of overtime pay, contact an unpaid overtime lawyer. We will assess your case and take the best course of action to get you your unpaid overtime wages - and more.

Sometimes, the first step is addressing the issue with your employer, in case it’s just an honest mistake or clerical error. Other times, we’ll advise you to file a complaint with the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. This is the federal agency that investigates wage violations and can enforce payment.

How Can Unpaid Overtime Lawyer Help You

Laws vary by state. An overtime dispute lawyer at Consumer Attorneys will listen to you, assess the circumstances of your job, do some research on your employer, apply the relevant laws, offer legal advice, and, depending on all of these factors, file an overtime lawsuit. We strive to get you the compensation you deserve.

We also know that work is essential - it’s how you pay your bills, can be your most significant source of community, and can be a big part of who you are. We will support you through the process and ensure your rights are respected.

Who Can We Help?

We help anyone who has been mistreated at any job in any industry, such as: retail workers at big department stores, gardeners, groundskeepers, landscapers, restaurant workers, forklift operators, construction workers, grocery store stockers, nurses, firefighters, call center representatives, technicians, and painters. If you are an employee who gets paid by the hour, we can help you.

Contact us to talk about your employer, your hours worked, your work, your pay, and we can talk about getting you paid what you deserve. You have already earned the pay, and you deserve it to hold your employer accountable. We are attorneys who fight for workers and consumers and will fight for you in an unpaid overtime lawsuit.