WASHINGTON D.C — If worked more than a 40 hour work week and were not paid overtime wages by your employer, you may be able to file an unpaid overtime lawsuit. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), your employer was required to pay you overtime wages if you were a “non- exempt” employee under the law. Many employers deny overtime pay and only pay them when an employee files a lawsuit.
Overtime pay is required for “covered employees” under the FLSA. Covered employees include:
- Most type of “blue collar” workers or other manual laborers who perform work involving repetitive operations with their hands, physical skill and energy. Examples would include carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, iron workers, craftsmen, construction workers, longshoremen, and laborers.
- Most non-management employees
- Most police officers, state troopers, detectives, paramedics, fire fighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and other “first responders.”
- Parole officers, probation officers, and park rangers
- Security guards
- Licensed practical nurses and Registered Nurses (RN)
- Hospital employees
- Paralegals, clerical staff, and secretaries
- Warehouse workers and maintenance personnel
- Customer service representatives and call center employees
In many circumstances, salaried employees and commission employees are also required to be paid overtime wages. There are certain occupations are “exempt” under the law and overtime pay is not required for those employees. The federal laws specifically sets forth which types of job categories or employees to receive overtime pay. Many times, an employer deny overtime pay by misclassifying an employee’s job, but the laws prevent this type of practice.
The FLSA and state laws set the overtime rate of pay that employers are required to pay is one and a half times (1.5 times) the regular hourly wage or similarly calculated compensation for a salaried employee who works more than 40 hours in a single workweek. Claims for unpaid wages can often be sought dating two years back from the filing of the lawsuit and continue forward until the case is settled. In some states, certain laws permit the claims to seek unpaid wages even more than two years in the past.
Unpaid overtime lawsuits often result in significant settlements and compensation to the employee. The money damages awarded to the employee include difference the amount the employee was paid and the amount they should have received had their waged been calculated properly. Employees can also recover an equal amount as liquidated damages or interest, as well as attorneys’ fees.
If your employer denied your overtime pay, there are two types of lawsuit that can be filed for your unpaid overtime pay. These lawsuits can be filed as individual lawsuits or class action lawsuits. Class action lawsuits are filed by the entire group and provide each employee with more strength in numbers to defeat a large business and their high paid legal team. An employee can also join an existing class action lawsuit if one has already been filed for unpaid overtime pay.
Our experienced overtime pay lawsuit attorneys will provide you with a FREE CONSULTATION to determine if you been improperly denied your overtime or wages.
We handle these cases on a “No Win, No Fee” basis, which means that you pay absolutely no legal fees or expenses unless we win a settlement for you. Call our experienced unpaid overtime lawsuit attorneys now at (855) 754-2795 to see if you have a claim and to get started on your case today.