Getting To Know The FLSA in New Jersey
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects workers against certain unfair payment practices.
Under the FLSA employees are guaranteed a minimum wage and in many cases the right to overtime pay. If your protections under the law have been violated by your employer, you may wish to contact an attorney.
Nonexempt Employees Must Be Paid by Employers for Overtime
The FLSA requires employers to pay overtime wages to eligible workers. Overtime is time-and-a-half, or 1 1/2 times the worker’s regular hourly wage. In a seven-day workweek, any hours worked by a non-exempt employee in excess of 40 hours requires overtime pay. Working more than 40 hours is the only method, according to the FLSA, that an employee has of earning overtime. It is irrelevant whether they work more than seven consecutive days or more than eight hours in a single day.
Job Duties Determine Exempt Status
As long as they meet the FLSA set hours requirement, employees considered nonexempt are entitled to overtime wages. However, no matter how many hours they work, employers are not required to pay overtime wages to exempt workers.
The single determining factor is the normal job duties performed by an employee. The employee is exempt from FLSA required overtime if their duties fall into an exempt category. The employee is nonexempt, otherwise.
Here are just a few primary exempt categories:
- Administrative employees
- Professional employees
- Computer employees
- Outside sales
- Executives
The employer makes the determination of whether a worker is nonexempt or exempt. Any employer that misclassifies the status of a worker’s overtime, therefore, might be liable to that employee for an overtime wage claim. If you think you have been misclassified you should contact an attorney.
Overtime Hours Include All Work
Agreements between employees and employers that circumvented the FLSA overtime duties are all work is done, non-enforceable, and void. Work is done by employees considered nonexempt, therefore, whether outside or inside of the office, and whether off or on the clock, is compensable. The hour’s count towards the overtime limit of 40 hours. In addition to travel times that happen during the workday, most training time is compensable.
Back Wages Can Be Collected by Employees
If you are an employee who should have been paid overtime wages by an employer, but you were not, to collect those damages, you can sue the employer. Along with liquidated damages, when overtime wage claims are filed by workers, the employee can seek as much as two (or, in some cases, three) years of back wages. Equal to the amount of earned back wages, the FLSA sets up liquidated damages. What this means is that, in addition to attorney costs and fees, a total of twice the owed back wages can be recovered by successful plaintiffs.
Employment Law Attorneys: Carcich and O’Shea
Carcich O’Shea knows the FLSA inside and out. With any and every law pertaining to employment in New York and New Jersey, we are fully educated and have a complete understanding. We are compassionate to your cause but relentless in the courtroom. Even if no one else seems interested in your story of workplace discrimination, unequal pay, unpaid overtime, etc., we want to hear your story. We listen!
Contact us today to discuss workplace problems happening at your place of employment that you feel may be against the law.