Ask An Employment Law Attorney In Oklahoma
I was forced to work over time, but never got paid for the extra time. My Director will not take action. What should I do?
Working hard in order to receive a day’s pay is what every individual agrees to do when accepting a job. In some cases, working overtime becomes a necessity, but the motivation for that extra work is that additional pay per hour (i.e. time and a half) is given for that sacrifice. Contact Frasier Law with your legal questions.
Those Ineligible for Overtime
However, there are instances where employees aren’t eligible for overtime, which primarily consists of those on salary, independent contractors, sales representatives, those who work in seasonal businesses such as a ski lodge or amusement parks and criminal investigators. For those on salary, the amount made must be over $450 per week, while some businesses try to classify legitimate employees as independent contractors to get around the restriction.
Those That Are Covered
Such exceptions outside of that group are rare, but if a business is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they have no choice but to pay overtime. These companies gross more than $500,000 in sales every year or their business requires them to take part in interstate commerce.
That commerce encompasses a wide variety of things, including when the company buys or sells items from a company outside the state where they do business. In addition, such seemingly inconsequential areas like mailing something or calling someone out of state means that a company is within that FLSA umbrella.
Hidden Costs Add Up
Some businesses won’t pay employees overtime, including those that require putting on uniforms or safety apparel, or involves a restaurant having an employee set tables or learn specials for the day.
While the time needed for such duties might involve only a 10-15 minute span each day, the effort made during that time should be compensated. That’s because over the course of a year, the time spent on such activities can amount to the equivalent of a week or working.
More recently, with the advent of communication advancements like e-mail, some employees essentially are on call even during their time off. In these situations, they’re expected to work, but that may not factored into their weekly pay.
Steps To Take With A Tulsa Employment Lawyer
To avoid such issues from developing, these employees should make sure to document how much time they spend on such duties in order to have evidence for an employment lawyer to use for any subsequent litigation. To speak to an attorney, call 918-779-3658 or contact us online today. We can give you the legal representation you need.