Wage and hour litigation is a growth industry with a significant increase in case filings over the last ten years. Wage and hour cases can be of significant risk, given that a compliance problem often affects an entire class of employees. If an employer has paid one employee incorrectly, it is likely that others were paid incorrectly as well. Under the FLSA, a plaintiff can collect 100 percent of unpaid overtime pay going back up to three years, plus a penalty amount determined by the court of up to 100% of unpaid overtime, plus attorney fees. Risks are significant and can be avoided by making sure that employees are classified correctly based on their job duties and if entitled to overtime pay – then pay it.
Most employees have job duties that would entitle them to overtime pay. Some employees may qualify for one of the narrow exemptions from overtime pay and would deem to be “exempt”. Unfortunately, employees are frequently misclassified as exempt when they are not. One of the most common misconceptions is that paying employees on a salary basis automatically makes them exempt from overtime pay, which is not the case.
Total Team Solutions can help our clients by providing compliance guidelines when it comes to defining exempt vs. non-exempt and making sure that overtime is paid correctly.
