What to Do if Your Employer Doesnt Pay Overtime

You're on this page because you're wondering if y'all're owed money. Information technology could be a little – and it could exist a lot. And maybe you know y'all're owed coin, and you merely need assist recovering information technology. We're here for that.

When an employer fails to pay you all of the pay that you're due, that means you've given your fourth dimension and sweat to help someone else brand money – however that "someone else" still has some of your money for your sacrifice. It'due south non fair, right or legal. Let's become you lot up to speed a petty bit on your options and the police force.

Should I only file a complaint with
the United States Department of Labor?

No, not without checking with a Texas lath-certified employee rights attorney first. The U.Due south. DOL can be helpful in some situations, but in many situations that nosotros've seen, they don't exercise a good chore of scrutinizing the way that the employer is calculating the back unpaid overtime wages. In essence, they allow the fox who is guarding the henhouse to study how many chickens are inside. Yes, correct. The employer and so has employees sign a DOL-approved release of their overtime claims in substitution for what is often a measly check that leaves a lot of that overtime pay in the employer's pocket. And if you talk to an attorney afterwards on nigh the unpaid overtime – they may not exist able to assistance you at that point. That transport may accept already sailed after the waiver.

In add-on, a board-certified employee rights attorneys can and will button to go a court to double your unpaid overtime pay. The DOL doesn't do that as a matter of course. Who doesn't want double their pay? Not only does it recoup you for going without your rightful pay all this fourth dimension, it holds the employer even more accountable and punishes them for declining to follow the law. What you do at present could aid employees at the visitor in the future. So talk to a board-certified employee rights chaser first – before going to the U.Due south. Section of Labor. The overtime law allows the attorney to take your instance with no out-of-pocket cost to you. Meaning, you would never have to pay your chaser annihilation out of your pocket to handle your instance. The attorney'southward fees come up from a portion of the recovery. Plus the police force allows you to recover some or all of those chaser costs.

What well-nigh filing a
Texas Workforce Commission Wage Claim?

In the vast majority of cases, a TWC Wage Merits is not the best style to handle an overtime claim – or any meaningful corporeality of money, for that affair. Specially if that overtime claim is for, say, more $1,000. The problems with a TWC wage merits are even worse than those for an overtime complaint with the DOL. Yous won't get doubling of your overtime pay through the TWC. You can only claim unpaid wages upward to 180 days prior to the day y'all file your TWC wage claim (filing a lawsuit in court allows you upwards to 2 years, and potentially 3 years, of back overtime wages). Furthermore, the TWC hearing officers are often poorly equipped, compared to courts, to figure out when the law says yous should accept received overtime pay. In that location accept been many bad TWC overtime decisions. And, at to the lowest degree under current Texas law, if you lot allow the TWC brand a bad decision, and let that conclusion go final at the TWC, you may have just waived your right to pursue the same claim in a court.

If you lot oasis't filed a TWC Wage Merits for overtime pay yet, give us at the O'Brien Law Firm a chance to give you lot an honest evaluation of whether that's your all-time option. And if y'all're in the middle of a TWC Wage Merits for overtime pay, let's discover out whether it might be a better idea for you lot to jump out of your Wage Claim process and seek the overtime pay (and perhaps doubling of that pay) in courtroom. If your TWC Wage Claim has non become terminal, you lot may exist able to withdraw that Wage Claim and become the court road. But, to be clear, don't endeavour annihilation similar that without the advice of a Texas lath-certified employee rights attorney.

The Off-white Labor Standards Act

The federal law that gives many workers a correct to overtime pay.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was an important piece of legislation passed in 1938 to protect the principle of fair pay for workers doing a substantial corporeality of piece of work during a week. Information technology is the federal law that governs payment of the required minimum wage and payments for overtime. The FLSA requires that virtually employees be paid time-and-a-one-half for all hours worked over 40 hours in a "work week," which is a defined vii-24-hour interval period.

Hither are some examples of how employers violate this police force:

• Simply not paying y'all time-and-a-half pay when y'all go over twoscore hours in a workweek.
• They try to get employees to work off-the-clock to squeeze in extra production "for gratuitous."
• Require you to clock out for lunch, while knowing or existence in a position to know that you are still working while eating at your desk.
• Require or knowingly allow y'all to accept work home to piece of work on information technology in the evening and weekends.
• Non paying y'all as yous drive from work location to work location during the 24-hour interval.
• Non paying you for mandatory events, like preparation sessions and meetings.
• Paying you a set salary for all of your piece of work, including work over twoscore hours, when you have to exist paid overtime pay due to the nature of your job duties. (In other words, misclassifying yous as "exempt" from the overtime laws when you aren't exempt.)
• Classifying you lot as an independent contractor (1099 pay) when y'all are actually an employee by law. Therefore, when the employer only pays yous the direct hourly contract rate over 40 hours, y'all are being denied your rightful overtime pay for the missing one-half-time pay. (And but because the employer calls y'all an "independent contractor" doesn't mean the law will agree. Talk to an chaser.)
• Giving you lot "compensatory time" (a.k.a. comp fourth dimension, or fourth dimension off) to make upward for overtime hours that you lot've put in. (Simply governmental employers tin practise this. If it'south a individual company, they are required to compensate your overtime hours with money, not fourth dimension off.)

Some occupations have a higher incidence of overtime violations in Austin and Dallas, such as:

• Oilfield workers
• Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities
• Restaurants
• Hotels and motels
• Call centers and client service facilities
• Daycares and pre-schools
• Convenience stores
• Office administrative staff
• Paralegals (usually required to be paid overtime pay in Texas)
• Nursing homes
• Security guards
• Grocery stores
• Janitorial contracting services
• Construction workers
• Doctor's offices, healthcare providers
• Retail stores

More FAQs

• What tin can an employer do to me if I complain well-nigh overtime?

By law, the employer can't take any adverse employment action – termination, demotion, faux poor operation reviews, blackballing, etc., considering you've complained about your unpaid overtime.

• Do I have to wait until I quit this job before I claim overtime?

The constabulary protects you from retaliation for making or filing complaints almost your unpaid overtime pay. However, suing your employer while you're however employed tin can be an awkward situation, to say the least. Furthermore, even if you can sue the employer for a retaliatory firing if it happens, y'all're probably better off having that task than being in a lawsuit over it. Then if you're even so at the task where yous have unpaid overtime, talk to a board-certified employee rights attorney nigh information technology to determine the best approach.

As you can see from O'Brien Law Firm's mission, nosotros are here to ameliorate your life. Therefore, nosotros are strategic and thoughtful on how we arroyo this situation. Part of the approach may depend on how long you've been going without being properly paid. If information technology's close to or more than two years, you may need to file your claim anyway or otherwise potentially begin losing that unpaid overtime pay forever. It depends – allow's talk. Just know you're in good hands when you lot trust us with your case.

• How far into the past can my claim for unpaid overtime get?

The law says that you tin can ever merits up to two years of past unpaid overtime pay. If the employer's failure to pay overtime under the law is determined to be "willful" – generally meaning that the employer knew or should have known they were violating the overtime laws – then you tin can claim an additional 3rd year of overtime pay. Proceed in mind, though, that the clock only stops running when you actually filed your claim. So if you have unpaid overtime pay going back two and mayhap iii years, every week that yous fail to have action may be a week of unpaid overtime pay that is lost forever.

• Sometimes I'd piece of work less than 40 hours but some of that would still be off-the-clock work. Tin I claim that as well?

Yes. It's non unpaid overtime pay, only equally function of an overtime lawsuit, the O'Brien Law Business firm also frequently makes additional claims for unpaid wages that aren't otherwise covered under the overtime laws. However, in Texas, those unpaid wages that aren't unpaid overtime aren't discipline to potential doubling by the court. Just it's all the same your coin that belongs in your pocket – not your employer's pocket.

• I sometimes work more than 8 hours in a day. Is that overtime?

Not in Texas. In Texas, just hours over 40 in a work week tin create overtime pay obligations. However, some other states practice have different rules on 8-60 minutes workdays.

• I was paid a salary. Tin I all the same exist entitled to overtime pay?

Absolutely. For some types of occupations and work, an employer cannot pay you lot salary to compensate you lot with one charge per unit for all hours of work. It depends very much on specifically what yous do in your task. Sometimes even someone in a "supervisor" position may exist entitled to overtime if the "supervising" is a relatively unimportant function of their task, and their primary job duties are ones that would entitled them to overtime. The more routine and manual your chore duties, and the less contained discretion and controlling responsibility you have in your task, the more probable that your job is non-exempt – pregnant, not exempt from the requirement that the employer pay you overtime for hours over xl. Talk a lawyer.

• How much does a lawyer cost? I don't have a lot of money.

Yous don't demand money to hire our firm to handle overtime claims. Nosotros take these cases on a contingency basis, meaning, nosotros only recover a % of your recovery. Furthermore, the overtime law requires the employer to reimburse you lot for the amount of time your attorney has put into the case to recover your overtime, if you lot're successful in your claim. Our house typically recovers betwixt 120%-200% of your unpaid overtime that goes straight into your pocket.

• Volition I have to go to court?

It's always possible, but information technology's relatively infrequent in the cases this firm has handled. The fact is, in most cases, the employer recognizes their liability and the potential cost of paying both their own chaser as well every bit yours to fight what may be a losing battle. So they settle. That'southward not all of the time, and employers have a right to competition the claim, but that's certainly our feel in a majority of cases that nosotros've handled.

• What if I wasn't keeping runway of my fourth dimension? Can I however have a merits?

Absolutely. If you are a "not-exempt" employee, federal law makes information technology your employer'southward responsibility to track all fourth dimension that you worked. If the employer did not do so – which is common, especially when the employee is misclassified as an exempt, salaried employee – then courts will normally take your practiced faith gauge of time that you worked. We have handled many cases solely on the basis of our clients' estimates of their overtime piece of work.

Contact our employment lawyers

If you lot believe that you lot may have been wrongly denied overtime pay,call the O'Brien Constabulary Firm NOW at(512) 410-1960 for a complimentary confidential case review or fill out the form beneath and so that we can become to know you and your state of affairs. If we take your example, you never have to pay usa anything from your pocket – all chaser fees come up from the budgetary recovery and/or the employer. Your information is confidential and the class submission goes straight to attorney Kerry O'Brien for his review.

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Source: http://texasemployees.com/case-types/unpaid-overtime-pay/

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