The Fair Labor Standards Act and a variety of state laws require that, subject to certain exceptions, employees who work more than 40 hours in the workweek must receive at least 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for the extra overtime hours.  While this requirement has existed for many years, there continue to be reports that some employers simply refuse to fully compensate employees for overtime hours, and/or purposely make it difficult for employees to request this extra compensation.

There have also been widespread reports of employers that “misclassify” certain employees to prevent them from receiving certain benefits.  These labels often do not correspond to the nature of the work actually performed by the employee.  As an example, some employers have reportedly called its employees “independent contractors” instead of “employees.”  As a result, these employees may be denied access to critical benefits and protections – such as family and medical leave, overtime, minimum wage and unemployment insurance – to which they are entitled.

Another practice that has received widespread coverage is that of employers that fail to compensate employees for putting on equipment or safety gear that is necessary to perform their job, or for filling out paperwork related to the performance of their job.  Finally, there have also been reports that some employers may not pay their employees the federal minimum wage rate, which is currently $7.25 per hour.

If you have been subject to any of these practices, please call us or click here to discuss your legal options.