Unpaid Overtime Claims

Unpaid Overtime Claims

The Davis Law Firm has a team ready to handle unpaid overtime and wage claims and their Board Certified attorney has experience in handling overtime claims against large and small employers.

Many employers try and avoid paying employees overtime for hours worked over 40 hours in a work week by not paying the overtime or simply paying a small bonus amount meant to cover overtime.  These practices are not allowed under the law.  Also, employers may tell their employees that they are salaried employees and not entitled to overtime; this also may not be allowed.

On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its Final Rule modifying the “white collar” exemption tests for executive, administrative, and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a statute covering requirements for overtime pay for employees.

Under the new regulations, the salary test for white collar employees will go from $455 per week

($23,660 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually). This increase is effective December 1, 2016.

The new rule impacts 4.2 million American workers. Employers will have less than seven months to determine whether it is cost effective to increase employee salaries to maintain the exemption or if they will have to reclassify employees as non-exempt and pay these employees hourly.

Non-discretionary Bonuses and Incentive Payments

Employers will be allowed to use non-discretionary bonuses and incentive payments to satisfy up to 10 percent of the salary basis requirement. For example, since the new minimum exempt

salary per week will be $913, an employer under the rule could pay $821.70 per week and accrue $91.30 weekly for a non-discretionary bonus (10% of$913) and still meet the minimum threshold under the rule. However, these payments must be paid at minimum on a quarterly basis to apply toward the exempt salary. The DOL will allow these payments to include commissions and the bonuses may be tied to productivity and profitability.

Highly Compensated Exemption

For “highly compensated” workers, the DOL’s regulations raise the salary threshold from $100,000 annually to $134,004 annually. These highly compensated employees will still be required to receive the minimum salary per pay period ($913 per week).