Overtime Laws
The Fair Labor Standards Act also known as FLSA obligates all employers to pay their employee time and a half the hourly rate of pay if the employee works more than 40 hour per week. Meaning, if you make $10 per hour and you have 45 hours for the week, the additional 5 hours will have a pay rate of $15 per hour. Overtime is required for forced, mandatory overtime and also work performed off the clock. Sometimes employers have a written policy stating that overtime is excluded, but they may still be obligated to pay time and a half if the policy is not enforced or the employee was allowed to do the work.
Off The Clock
There are some employers who try to cheat the system in order to not have to pay overtime. Employers have been known to have employees work “off-the-clock” by having the employee work before clocking in and after clocking out. The employer may also have the accountant automatically deduct time for breaks and lunch, even though the employee may not use these breaks or may not be allowed to.
Unpaid Breaks
The medical profession industry is one of the most common times when these automatic deductions are abusive. Many medical professionals are on call, and thus if they only get a 5 minute lunch due to an emergency they are still docked for the full lunch. There are also cases where employers deduct breaks illegally from an employees pay. The law states that the employees are allowed 5-20 minutes of a break that is a paid break.
Employment Status
Other employers claim the employee’s status as independent contractor regardless of the fact that the employee is not in business for themselves. However, a working relationship, not the paperwork, decides the employee’s status. The actual definition of an independent contractor is a contractor who does work for more than one company at any given time and is in control of their own work.
Employers also try to dodge paying overtime by paying employees who are not exempt from being paid overtime with a salary rather than an hourly wage. Employees who have a higher level ranking such as administrative, executive, and professional employees are exempt from overtime payments. Employers will label their employees with the higher level titles as a method for avoiding overtime. However, even if they have the title but perform a different job, it is not really a higher level. Say you have the title office manager, but you do not manage anything and your duties include more of a secretary position. If this is the case you are entitled to an hourly rate with overtime not a salary with no overtime.
Additional Legal Web Source: HelpingWorkers.com. Serving clients in Boca Raton and Miami, FL.
