Ringgold Unpaid Overtime Lawyer

Although there are no limitations imposed on the number of hours an employer may require an employee to work, there are legal requirements regarding how employers must compensate employees for those hours.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that establishes overtime guidelines that employers must follow. Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in an employer facing liability for back wages and damages.

Although overtime is required by law, many employers refuse to pay overtime or attempt to classify an employee as exempt from overtime requirements to avoid extra operating expenses. If you are not being paid for the overtime hours you have worked, consider working with one of our Ringgold unpaid overtime lawyers. An experienced FSLA lawyer could help you recover your overdue wages.

What is Overtime Compensation?

Overtime compensation is different than an employee’s regular rate of compensation. Under federal law, employers are required to pay most employees who work more than forty hours in one workweek one and a half times their normal pay rate. Overtime compensation is not automatically required for hours worked on weekends or holidays.

A Ringgold employee’s regular rate of compensation should not be less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, with limited exceptions. Paying an employee their normal hourly wage for overtime hours is a common example of unpaid overtime. Although the employee is being paid, they are still entitled to a higher overtime wage.

Overtime pay is required and cannot be legally waived or withheld. Employees should carefully review their pay stubs to ensure that their overtime hours are being paid correctly. If an employee is unsure how to calculate overtime, a Ringgold unpaid overtime lawyer can help.

Examples of Unpaid Overtime

Although the most obvious example of unpaid overtime is an employer refusing to pay any overtime, there are many other examples that Ringgold unpaid overtime lawyers witness. It is important to understand the different types of unpaid overtime scenarios.

Compensation for Work “Off the Clock”

Time spent staying late or showing up to work early should be compensated. Not only should this time be compensated, but these hours should count toward an employee’s overtime workweek hours. Even if an employer has the employee scheduled for certain hours but he or she needs to work beyond that scheduled time to complete an assignment or meet a deadline, he or she should be paid.

Inaccurate Time Cards

Unpaid overtime is often the result of falsified or incomplete time cards. When an employee’s hours are not clearly documented, it presents challenges for demonstrating the actual amount of overtime hours worked. Ringgold unpaid overtime lawyers recommend that employers and employees maintain accurate records.

Working Through Breaks

If an employee works through an allotted break period, this time should be compensated and count toward overtime hours. The FLSA considers short breaks under 20 minutes to be compensable work time. Short breaks of this nature should count toward workweek hours in determining overtime hours. Breaks lasting more than a half hour do not need to be compensated under the FLSA.

Contacting a Ringgold Unpaid Overtime Lawyer

Even employees who are paid a salary may be entitled to receive overtime. Salaried employees are exempt from overtime requirements under the FLSA only if they are paid a salary of at least $455 per week and their position falls into an exempt category of an administrative, professional or executive job function.

Ringgold unpaid overtime lawyers are aware that an employee’s job title alone will not determine whether they satisfy these requirements. The employee’s actual job duties are the determining factor in analyzing whether they are covered by the FLSA. Our unpaid overtime wage lawyers represent employees in Ringgold and surrounding areas. If you would like to discuss your overtime concerns, call our office at your earliest convenience to set up a meeting.