Information About Overtime Wage Claims

Most employees who work more than forty hours per week are entitled to be paid one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for overtime hours worked. This is commonly known as overtime pay. The law that governs whether an employee is entitled to be paid overtime is a federal statute called the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act is a very complex statute that is full of exceptions and exclusions that cover certain types of employees and determine whether those employees are entitled to their overtime pay.

Most hourly employees are entitled to overtime pay. To receive proper overtime pay, an employee must receive one and one-half times their hourly rate of pay for their overtime. For example, if an individual was paid $10.00 per hour and during a weekly period worked more than forty hours in that week, the employee must be paid $15.00 per hour (one and one-half times the hourly rate) for all hours worked in excess. forty hours a week. This employee would earn $400.00 for the first 40 hours worked, then would be paid $15.00 per hour for any time over 40 hours.

Salaried employees are also covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Quite often we will talk to a salaried employee who is told by his employer that because he is paid salaried, he receives overtime pay. This is definitely wrong. The only difference between an hourly employee and a salary employee is the way overtime pay is calculated.

To calculate a salaried employee’s overtime pay, divide the number of hours an employee works during a given period, usually weekly or biweekly, by the amount of salary for that same period. Doing so will give you an hourly rate for which the employee was paid during that work period. That hourly rate determines the amount an employee is paid for their overtime pay. For example, if an employee is paid a salary of $35,000.00 per year, his weekly salary would be $673.08 ($35,000.00 divided by 52 weeks). If an employee worked 45 hours during a particular week, his hourly rate would equal $14.96 ($673.08 divided by 45 hours). To determine that employees pay overtime, you would divide that hourly rate of $14.96 in half, which equals $7.48. That employee would then be entitled to an additional $7.48 for each of those additional 5 hours of overtime that he worked during that weekly period.

Many employers approach employees and warn them that they will become salaried employees and try to portray it as an employee benefit. In reality, receiving a salary generally works against employees who work long hours because the employee’s effective hourly rate will decrease with the more hours that employee works. For example, if you take the same employee who made $35,000.00 and worked 45 hours a week, his effective hourly rate is $14.96. However, if you take the same employee making $35,000.00 and have that employee work 50 hours a week, your effective hourly rate would actually drop to $13.46. If that employee continues to work more and more hours, their effective hourly rate and overtime premium will continue to fall.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, there are dozens of different employee classifications, employee exemptions, and requirements for certain employees that determine whether an employee is entitled to overtime pay. For basic information about certain categories of employees and whether they are entitled to overtime pay, the US Department of Labor has an excellent website that briefly explains many of these classifications, qualifications, and exemptions. The website is www.dol.gov/esa/fact-sheets-index.htm [http://www.dol.gov/esa/fact-sheets-index.htm]. However, to fully explore whether you or someone you know is entitled to overtime pay, it is best to consult with an experienced Florida overtime attorney. [http://www.jmmlawyers.com/overtime-attorney.html] specializing in the field of wage and hour claims.