Am I Entitled To Overtime Pay

Several questions arise when addressing the topic of overtime pay: type of employment, type of work, type of hours all go into determining whether an employee qualifies for overtime pay.

What Type of Employment Qualifies for Overtime Pay

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are two types of employees – those who are exempt from overtime wages and those not exempt from overtime wages. If you work more than forty hours in one week, you may be entitled to overtime wages.

An overtime pay attorney can assist you, and not only determine whether or not you are a non-exempt employee, but help you recover any wages owed to you by your employer.

Exempt Employees? No Overtime
An exempt employee is anyone who is both paid on salary and performs the duties of an exempt employee. Most exempt duties fall under three different categories: Executive, Professional, and Administrative.

Executive
If you regularly supervise two or more full-time employees and you are in control of a unit or sub-unit of the company, you may be classified as an Executive and be exempt from earning overtime depending of the time of employee, as there are employees like IT professionals that are essential for a company at any time and that’s why having an IT recruiter Utah can be great for this purpose. There are several exceptions to this general rule:

• If you are an assistant manager and your manager is always present, you may be entitled to overtime pay because your manager is directly responsible.
• A line manager or other similar title that does not grant you supervisory rights is not exempt from being paid overtime
• If you do not supervise two or more full-time employees, but you supervise multiple part-time employees, you may be exempted from overtime pay if you supervise 80 hours or more worth of employee time in one week.

Professional
If your job utilizes advanced, typically highly-specialized, training or education, you may be exempt from overtime wages. Such professions include doctors, engineers, teachers, accountants, and attorneys. However, these are not the only professions exempted. If your work requires you to regularly make decisions using good judgment, discretion, and highly-advanced training, you may be exempt from earning overtime wages.

Administrative
If you perform office work that supports the business and requires you to make business decisions, you may fall under the administrative category of exempt employees. Payroll administrators would be a good example of an exempt employee; a secretary or receptionist would not be exempt from earning overtime wages. Secretaries and receptionists typically do not exercise judgment on decisions which affect the business. The key to this category is whether or not the individual makes decisions which effect the overall operation of the business and not just a single executive or professional.

Other Exempt Employees

• If you work for your family in agricultural production, you are not entitled to overtime pay (and you may not be entitled to minimum wage pay, either).
• If you perform work for a labor organization and are not employed by that labor organization (for instance, picketing for your union while on strike) you are not entitled to overtime wages. However, if you are employed by the labor organization (such as an agent or administrative assistant) then you may be non-exempt and entitled to overtime wages.

Non-Exempt Employees – Overtime
If you did not fit any of the categories listed in the exempt employee section, you may be entitled to overtime wages. If you work more than forty hours in one week, each subsequent hour is paid as time-and-one-half. For instance, if you make $8 per hour, you would make $12 per hour after your regular 40 hours of work. Please note: hourly employees are not the only ones who are entitled to overtime wages. If you are a salaried employee that does not perform exempt duties then you may be entitled to overtime wages.

What Type of Work Qualifies for Overtime Pay

Generally, work is anything that an employee does during his or her assigned hours that is related to the function, form, or production of the employer. Working on an assembly line is related to the production of the business. Working as a business consultant is related to the form of the business. A payroll manager is contributing to the function of the business. Things that are considered work-time:

• Breaks – Although neither required by the Texas state nor federal governments, some employers offer or require breaks to be taken by employees. These periods are considered work time.
• Non-required work – Any optional work performed is considered work time because it is related to the function, form, or production of the business.
• Voluntary work – Some employers assign special tasks on a voluntary basis. These tasks and the time they require are considered work.
• Non-approved work – Work performed for an employer that is not authorized or not approved is still considered work. The employer must specifically prevent you from performing non approved work.

Things that are payable, even if not working:

• Non-productive time – Call-center workers, receptionists, security personnel, and others frequently have periods where there is no work to be performed. This is considered work time even though it is non-productive.
• Travel-time for errands – Driving a company vehicle is considered payable time even though work is not being performed.

What Will I Be Paid for Overtime

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) states that an employee will receive compensation for his employment in excess of forty hours each week at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed. It is that simple. FLSA also states that employees are allowed recovery for work performed up to two years prior to a complaint being filed in court. You are allowed an additional year if the employer knowingly disregarded the law regarding these claims. If you believe you may be entitled to overtime pay, and have not received overtime or have been denied overtime, you may be able to recover unpaid overtime wages.

Contact the Rasansky Law Firm immediately for a complimentary consultation on your situation. Our Dallas-based attorneys strongly advocate for overtime pay nationwide. We enable our clients to recover for their injuries, pain and suffering, medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, and other losses sustained. We demand strict professional standards. Our Dallas-based attorneys are among the best personal injury lawyers and have resolved many multi-million dollar personal injury cases. We are passionate about our role as advocates and treat our clients with complete respect and compassion. We are committed to utilizing all available legal advantages and tactic to successfully resolve your overtime pay claim.