Overtime Pay, Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Many employees are entitled to overtime pay and they are not even aware of it. Most employees think they are not entitled to overtime pay because they are paid a salary, but this is completely incorrect. The question is not whether an employee is on salary, but whether they are "exempt." While being paid a salary is one of the requirements for being exempt from being paid an overtime wage, it is far from the end of the inquiry. A lot of employees think they do not get overtime pay due to misinformation being passed around for many many years. One of the more common misconceptions is that employees that work with computers or in the "IT" department are exempt from overtime pay, but this is completely untrue. While certain computer employees are exempt, not all of them are. Even some employees that think they obliviously should not get overtime are mistaken. How is an employee to know? The best way is to contact an attorney knowledgeable with overtime wage laws. Overtime pay issues can be some of the most complicated out there, but this also means that many employees are being denied overtime because the company does not understand the overtime laws. However the law places a heavy burden on companies to know the law including them having to pay an employee double overtime wages if the company is not complying with the law. This sometimes means a company having to pay employees double overtime wages for previous years the employee was not paid.
Most people think of the Fair Labor Standards Act (or the FLSA) when they think of overtime law. But overtime laws come from both Federal and State laws. Some states put a limit on the number of hours an employee can work during a week, but not Nevada. An employee can file a lawsuit under both Federal and State laws if each one offers a different benefit to the employee. The Fair Labor Standards Act is a Federal law that requires an employee to be paid 50% greater wages for any hours worked greater than 40 a week. If the actual hours worked are not known, then they are allowed to be approximated. While most companies are covered by the FLSA, not all will be and then an employee will need to use state laws to seek overtime pay.
One of the critical factors in an overtime lawsuit is when it is filed. The Fair Labor Standards Act has two different statute of limitations depending on how the company implemented its overtime policies. To be safe, the shorter statute of limitations of 2 years should be used. This does not always mean that an employee can recover wages if they file within 2 years. It only means that any wages owed during the 2 years up to the date of the lawsuit may be collected. So if an employee stops working for a company and files a lawsuit 2 years after leaving the company, the employee will not be able to collect anything since the employee did not work during the previous 2 years and obviously did not work any hours greater than 40 during those two years. So if an employee quits or is fired, they need to immediately file their lawsuit if they have not been paid overtime. Of course this should be done even if the employee is still working there too. State laws should also be considered since they may use longer statute of limitations. Reno, Nevada, Carson City and Las Vegas FLSA overtime attorneys and lawyers.