Overtime / Unpaid Compensation

Federal law requires employers to pay their employees overtime pay for time worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek at a rate of no less than one and a half their regular rate. Some states have adopted their own stricter overtime laws. Employers in these states must follow whichever law is more favorable to the employee. Overtime class action lawsuits arise when an employer tries to avoid paying their employees deserved overtime.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay non-exempt employees overtime. Unfortunately, employers can violate federal and state overtime pay laws in a variety of ways. Common abuses include:

• Misclassifying an employee as exempt
• Requiring employees to work off-the-clock
• Incorrectly calculating overtime pay