Can I File An Overtime Legal Claim Without My Time Records?
There are specific and strict rules in this country for employment standards, wage rates, and overtime rules that every employer and employee should know. Otherwise, they will be open to employees hiring overtime lawyers and filing overtime claims. Under these rules, many employers are required by law to pay overtime to certain classes of employees when they work over forty (40) hours per week. If employers do not do so, they are breaking the law and you are entitled to enlist the aid of an employment lawyer and file unpaid overtime claims.
Federal Overtime Rules
The federal rules for wages and overtime are found in the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). This is a comprehensive law that standardizes the rules for all companies conducting interstate commerce and accumulating sales of over $500,000 per year. If your company conducts business over the internet, the phone, through the U.S. mail, or any other means that cross state lines, it is conducting interstate commerce and this law applies to you and can help you understand the conditions for filing overtime claims.
The FLSA covers child labor laws, the forty (40) hour work week, minimum wage standards, equal pay for equal work, and overtime pay. It outlines two categories of jobs: exempt and non-exempt. Exempt positions are specifically spelled out by job description, but they are generally those that include administrative, executive, and professional tasks, that are full-time, and that are year-round. Most exempt employees are salaried and are not eligible for overtime pay. Most other positions are considered non-exempt, are hourly, and are eligible for overtime.
The standard for overtime pay is one and one-half times your regular wage for each hour worked over forty (40) hours in a seven-day or 168-hour period. If you are a non-exempt employee and you work more than forty (40) hours in a regular workweek, you are entitled to overtime pay. If you do not receive it, you may be entitled to unpaid overtime claims. An overtime lawyer can help with filing overtime claims.
Filing Overtime Claims
Every employer should have a copy of the FLSA rules and apply them to every aspect of the workplace. If they do not, they may be defrauding their employees, either unwittingly or intentionally, and be subject to unpaid overtime claims. It is not uncommon for employers to misunderstand and misapply the FLSA rules and find their employees filing overtime claims with the help of overtime lawyers. That is why the Department of Labor had to pay over $200 million in unpaid overtime claims in a recent year.
If you believe you have unpaid overtime claims, you should consult an experienced overtime lawyer to see if you have a case for filing overtime claims. An overtime lawyer can help you understand the federal guidelines for filing overtime claims, the correct classification for your job, and whether or not your unpaid overtime claims are justified. If they are, filing overtime claims with your overtime lawyer is your next step. Your overtime lawyer can also help you negotiate with your employer, the court, or The Department of Labor over your unpaid overtime claims.
After filing overtime claims, your
overtime lawyer can help you justify your unpaid overtime claims, either by verbal or written testimony. Ii is helpful if you have time sheets to substantiate your unpaid overtime claims; however, you are not required to do so. It is your employer’s responsibility to keep track of your hourly time sheets in order to defeat your unpaid overtime claims. Most courts assume that if you assert you have unpaid overtime claims, you actually worked those hours, and your overtime lawyer should be there to argue your case.
Keep in mind; however, before filing overtime claims that there are some common mistakes non-exempt employees and/or employers may make that can lead to facing an overtime lawyer over unpaid overtime claims.
- If your employer has announced and posted a rule prohibiting overtime, you will not be paid for overtime hours your employer does not specifically request, even if you file unpaid overtime claims.
- If you were requested to take part in a company-sponsored program that ran over your normal forty (40) hour workweek, you may have grounds for filing overtime claims through an overtime lawyer.
- No employee can be forced to wave their rights to overtime pay for overtime hours if it falls under FLSA rules. If this has happened to you, it may be grounds for asking an overtime lawyer to help with filing overtime claims.
- You cannot decline to work overtime without a valid reason. If you do so and your employer suffers hardship as a result, it may be grounds for termination.
- Any employee who falsifies a time sheet in order to justify filing overtime claims is not protected under FLSA rules. Filing overtime claims in that situation is grounds for termination.
- An employer who misclassifies a job position as exempt when it should be non-exempt is liable for unpaid overtime claims filed through your overtime lawyer.
- An employer who ignores overtime hours because he did not request that you work them or because you took longer to complete a task than he expected is breaking the law. You should consider asking an overtime lawyer to help with filing overtime claims.
- Some employers try to classify all salaried positions as exempt positions, but that is not always true. They are responsible to follow the job test guidelines in the FLSA carefully. If they do not, they will find their employees contacting overtime lawyers and filing overtime claims.
There are certainly many other instances of misunderstanding and abuse concerning unpaid overtime claims. An overtime lawyer can help with filing overtime claims. In many cases, an overtime lawyer will not charge for the initial consultation to determine if you are justified in filing overtime claims.
A word of warning, the statute of limitations for unpaid overtime claims is two (2) years under
FLSA rules. If you have not decided that filing overtime claims by that time is worthwhile, it is not. Your unpaid overtime claims will not be heard, even if you go through an
employment lawyer. If you are delaying because you fear your employer will fire you for filing unpaid overtime claims, don’t. It is illegal for an employer to do so. If they do, your overtime lawyer can help with filing overtime claims and the additional claims and fines beyond the original unpaid overtime claims.