Wage & Hour Law
Florida Unpaid Overtime and Wage Attorneys - Massey & Duffy, PLLCWe regularly handle overtime claims and claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and have been involved in extremely large overtime cases spanning the United States. For our clients, we can obtain two times the amount of unpaid overtime or wages, without any costs or fees.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Under the new overtime rules, workers earning less
than $23,660 per year — or $455 per week — are
guaranteed overtime protection. This strengthens
overtime rights for 6.7 million American workers,
including 1.3 million low-wage workers who were denied
overtime under the old rules. If you make less than
either of these amounts but are not paid overtime,
please contact us immediately.
Workers who are covered by the FLSA are entitled to
minimum wage of not less than 5.15 per hour; Florida law
even mandates a minimum wage of $6.67 per hour.
Employers are required to keep records on wages, hours,
and other items which are generally maintained as an
ordinary business practice. Failure to do so can
implicate liability.
The law often allows you to sue for back overtime pay up
to three years from the date a lawsuit is filed. In
addition, employees are entitled to double the amount of
their back pay plus lawyer's fees.
Contact us at Massey & Duffy, PLLC today for a review of
your case.
Exemptions to the Overtime Laws
There are numerous, complex, exemptions to the FLSA. These
exemptions are as follows:
Executive Employees
Administrative Employees
Professional Employees
Employees in Computer-Related Occupations
Outside Sales Employees
Salary Basis Requirement and the Part-541 Exemptions
Highly-Compensated Workers
Administrative Duties Tests
Often, however, companies intentionally misclassify an employee to rob that employee of earned wages and overtime. Contact us to learn if you have been improperly classified as exempt.
Common Overtime Issues
Employers utilize numerous schemes to deny their employees overtime.
Some of these issues are as follows:
a. Making less than $23,660 per year. The new overtime law mandates that
if you earn less than $23,660 per year (or $455 per week), you are
entitled to overtime even if you are on salary. As such, assistant
managers at fast food or retail stores are often entitled to overtime.
b. Misclassifying employees. Employers avoid paying overtime due to
their employees by inappropriately classifying them as "exempt" from
overtime pay. Employers will refer to employees as "managers" or
"assistant managers" but require them to perform tasks that are not
considered "managerial." These persons must be paid overtime, despite
their title.
c. Uncompensated breaks or lunches. Rest periods of short duration such
as 20 minutes or less must be counted as hours worked. Also, if an
employee is required to clock out for lunch but that employee is not
completely free from her duties during lunch, the employer must pay the
employee for that time. A common example is a delivery driver who eats
lunch while making delivers is still working.
d. Adding workweeks. Overtime must be paid if, during any week, the
employees hours exceed 40 hours. An employee who works 30 hours one
week, and 50 hours the next week, must be paid 10 hours of overtime.
e. "Off-the-Clock" or take home work. Employers who require their
employees to perform any tasks before clocking in or after the employee
clocks out are liable for those additional hours worked. Sometimes,
employees are required to begin working (such as setting up, roll call,
time putting on or removing protective gear, etc.) but don't clock in
until later. Another example is a fast food worker who voluntarily
continues to work at the end of the shift to finish cleaning.
f. Unpaid Final Paycheck. Employers often terminate someone and then
fail to give them their final paycheck. Normally, workers must receive
their final paycheck of at least their minimum wages. Because the
federal minimum wage is $5.15/hour, an employer violates federal law by
failing to pay less than the minimum wage.
g. Improperly treated as an independent contractor. Employees that are
largely controlled by the company are not independent contractors and
must be paid overtime.
h. Tips. Employers are not permitted to require their employees to
share their tips with managers, dishwashers, cooks, chefs or others who
are not entitled to share in tips. This is improper usage of what’s
referred to as a “tip credit”, and violates the FLSA.
i. Bonuses. Employees paid bonuses or something "extra" are entitled to
have these bonuses, shift differential, commissions and/or other
incentive pay included in the calculation of overtime pay. Most
employers fail to abide by this requirement.
j. Requiring pre-approval for overtime. Denying employees overtime pay
when the overtime is not approved by management often results in unfair
treatment. If an employer knows or should know of an employee’s overtime
work, it must be paid.
k. Being “on call” or waiting time. Requiring the attendance of
work-related meetings and/or training sessions but do not paying for
those hours is also a violation. This includes employees that are “on
call”, spent time traveling or who are not paid for time waiting (such
as a secretary who is not paid while waiting for a client).
l. Improper timekeeping. Some employers purposefully change their
employees time, or use sloppy methods for recording the time. For
example, using methods that automatically deduct lunch periods or
automatically end the time at a certain period is often improper.
Contact Our Gainesville and Ocala, Florida Overtime Lawyers
Contact our Florida firm if you or someone you know might be entitled to
overtime or a minimum wage. We can take these types of cases on a
contingency basis, with no fees or costs to our clients. We can also get
twice the amount of overtime owed for our clients.
Contact Our Attorneys Now...
Email us for a free case evaluation at masseylaw@gmail.com, call us to discuss your case at (352) 374-0878, or come visit us as 824 E. University Ave., Gainesville FL 32601.
