The federal law governing overtime is the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). The FLSA mandates that an employee cannot work more than 40 hours a week unless he/she is paid overtime. Overtime pay must be at least time and a half for each hour past 40 hours. Most employees are covered by the FLSA. Employees that are paid a salary (instead of an hourly wage) and are accurately classified as executive, administrative, or professional are considered exempt, and are not eligible for overtime.

Claims should be filed within two years of the violation, although some circumstances allow recovery for claims as far back as three years. If your overtime claim is successful, you will receive back pay for unpaid overtime. You may also receive double damages, as-well-as attorney's fees.

Employers often try to avoid paying overtime compensation by using some of the following tactics:

• Employers often require their employees to work "off the clock" by failing to record the time they are actually working on the job. They may fail to compensate for meal breaks, or fail to pay for travel time incurred while traveling for the company. They may fail to compensate an employee who must arrive early to perform necessary "pre-work" preparations that must be done before they can start work. Or, they may even instruct an employee to report less hours than they actually worked.
  
  
• An employer may misclassify an employee as being "exempt" from overtime. If an employee is not an "outside sales person" or an "executive", an "administrator," or a "professional," then they are not exempt under the law from being paid overtime compensation and should be duly compensated for their time.
  
  
• Often employers will inform the employee that they are not entitled to overtime pay and give an improper reason. (for example, that permission or approval was not granted in advance; that they are salaried employees, etc.)
  
  
• Employers may incorrectly calculate the amount actually due the employee. (ie. Carrying overtime into another week to make it part of the regular next work week in order to pay the regular hourly wage instead of overtime rates. Or altering an employee's time sheets, etc.)

There are many and varied ways an employer can cheat an employee out of legitimate compensation for overtime worked by an employee. These are just some examples. If your employer is trying to avoid paying you for the overtime hours you have worked, we urge you to contact a lawyer to protect your rights. The Ottinger Firm invites you to contact us for a free consultation.

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