The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in the 1930s to establish employment standards and ensure that workers are paid fairly. Unfortunately, FLSA law violations are all too common in the workplace. As a result of these violations, workers are not paid the wages they are entitled to. If your employer has committed one or more of the following violations, you may be entitled to compensation.
Misclassification of non-exempt employees as exempt
New York and New Jersey employers are responsible for classifying their employees as exempt or non-exempt to determine who is entitled to overtime pay. An employee’s status is generally determined based on whether they receive a salary, the salary they are paid, and their job duties and responsibilities. Non-exempt employees are typically entitled to overtime pay at a rate of one-and-one-half times their standard rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per workweek. However, some employers misclassify non-exempt employees as exempt, and therefore, fail to pay them overtime for the extra hours worked.
Automatically classified salaried employee as exempt
While exempt employees are generally salaried employees, not all salaried employees are exempt. Employers must determine whether a salaried employee qualifies for an FLSA exemption before classifying them as exempt from overtime. If no exemption applies, a salaried employee is entitled to overtime. Employers may automatically classify a salaried employee as exempt, even if they do not qualify for an FLSA exemption.
Failure to properly calculate overtime pay
Even if an employee is properly classified as non-exempt, their employer may still fail to pay them the correct amount they are owed for overtime hours worked. An employer may fail to use an accurate rate of pay when calculating how much overtime is owed or fail to keep an accurate record of all overtime hours worked. For example, an employer may fail to include ‘off-the-clock’ hours where an employee does work-related tasks before their shift starts.
These are just a few of the most common employer FLSA violations, but there are many other possibilities. If your employer has not paid you what you think you deserve, an employment law attorney can help determine whether you have a legitimate claim against your employer.