Employee Wage and Hour Claims (FLSA)

Employers must abide by certain laws governing the wages and hours of their employees. Although it has undergone some changes and alterations over the years, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is still the focal point of America’s wage and hour laws. The FLSA is a federal law that can be categorized by its three main purposes. First, the FLSA sets a minimum wage. Second, the FLSA establishes the rate by which employees should be compensated for working overtime. Finally, the Fair Labor Standards Act creates a child labor provision to set limitations on the age individuals must reach before they can be employed.

Minimum wages are the lowest wages employers may legally pay their employees or workers. Also, workers may not provide their labor for less than the prescribed minimum wage. While states do have the right to create their own minimum wages, these wages cannot fall below the federal minimum wage.

Below is a list of current minimum wage levels:

• Federal Minimum Wage = $7.25

• Rhode Island Minimum Wage = $7.40

• Massachusetts Minimum Wage = $8.00

• Connecticut Minimum Wage = $8.25

All employees must be compensated for any time they spend working, or performing tasks that benefit the employer. This includes regularly scheduled work and any other time spent working off the clock if the employer knows, or has reason to know, the employee is working. Unfortunately, employers sometimes unlawfully fail to compensate employees for the time they spend working. For example, according to a report in BusinessWeek, Hollywood Video was sued by some of their employees who claimed they were unpaid for time worked. Although the employees were spending time in the morning starting up the computer systems, and time at night closing out the cash registers, they were not being compensated for completing those tasks. By law, it is the employer’s duty to regulate its employee’s work. Therefore, if the employer has knowledge that an employee was working off the clock and continues to allow it, the employee is entitled to receive payment for the hours worked.

Calculating the exact number of hours worked in a week is very important because employees may be entitled to additional compensation. Under the FLSA, most employees who work over 40 hours in a workweek must be paid overtime pay for those additional hours. Overtime pay, also known as premium pay, is to be paid to an employee at a rate of at least one and one-half times their regularly earned wage.

Not all employees working over 40 hours are entitled to overtime pay. Typically, employees earning salaries with the ability to exercise discretion are considered exempt from receiving overtime pay. However, some employees entitled to overtime pay may have the mistaken belief that they are exempt. Often times, this mistaken belief is a result of employers using methods in an effort to avoid paying overtime to their employees.

A very common way for employers to avoid paying overtime pay is by misclassifying the employee as exempt. Basically, an employee will be performing their usual job duties under the same routine with minimal discretion, but will not receive overtime pay because the employer has given them a different title (e.g., supervisor or manager). This practice of misclassifying employees to avoid paying overtime is unlawful and employees in such situations may be entitled to payment of lost wages.

Some methods employers use to avoid fairly compensating their employees includes:

• Instructing or allowing employees to work off the clock without pay

• Not paying employees for all meal breaks

• Not allowing employees to take breaks

• Paying employees less than the minimum wage

• Misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime

• Failing to compensate employees for attending meetings or training sessions

• Not paying the correct wage for overtime hours

• Failing to properly compensate employees for on-call time

If you feel you are not being fairly compensated by your employer, you may be entitled to receive your unpaid wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Please contact the law offices of d'Oliveira & Associates at 1-800-992-6878 or fill out a contact form for a free legal consultation.