Investigations of Common Violations of Overtime Laws

Nichols Kaster & Anderson, PLLP is currently investigating certain industries and employment practices that violate overtime laws. Discussed below are some common ways in which employers violate the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws. If you have experienced similar violations, please contact us.

For information about the minimum wage rates in each state, please visit the Department of Labor's website at http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

Mortgage Industry Employees

Jobs in the mortgage industry require a lot of hard work and, unfortunately, mortgage companies have notoriously poor pay practices.  As a result many loan officers, originators, consultants and processors are denied their rightful compensation.  

Frequent pay violations in the industry include:

• Job Misclassification: Employees are often improperly classified as exempt from overtime pay when the nature of their work entitles them to overtime pay under the law.
• Off-the-Clock Work:  Some companies have the policy that overtime is only paid when that time is pre-approved by management.   Consequently hourly mortgage employees regularly have to underreport their hours worked on their time records and, thus are not paid the full amount that they deserve.
• Meal and Rest Breaks Violations: Many mortgage employees have to work through their meal or rest breaks because of the amount of work they have to get done.  Certain states require that employees be given their allotted breaks every day or employers will be held liable under state law.

Our firm has extensive experience representing mortgage employees in overtime cases.  If you worked as a loan officer/consultant/originator or a loan processor with a bank or mortgage lender in the last three years and were denied some or all of your overtime pay, please contact us, for a free review of your possible claim.

Computer/IT Employees

The Fair Labor Standards Act contains very specific provisions for employees who work with computers. In order to be exempt from the FLSA, computer employees must be paid at least $27.63 per hour or they may be paid a salary of $455 per week. Additionally, exempt computer employees must work in software design, systems analysis, or similar areas. Frequently, employers do not fully understand these requirements and assume that employees working with computers should not be eligible for overtime pay. If you work in the IT or computer field , do not meet the requirements above, and do not receive overtime pay, please contact us.

Call Centers

Frequently, call center employees are paid for a set timeframe, such as 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but they may be required to be at their workstations before and/or after the shift without being compensated for this extra time. This practice violates the law. If you have experienced a situation such as this, please contact us to take action.

Donning and Doffing

In jobs that require employees to wear uniforms or other gear necessary to the job, employees can spend a significant amount of time each day “donning and doffing” (i.e., putting on and taking off) their gear. The Supreme Court has recently held that in most cases, employees should be paid for this time. If you work in a job that requires you to wear special gear and you are not paid for the time you spend donning and doffing it, please contact us to take action.

Automatic Time Clock Systems

An increasing number of employers are using computerized timekeeping systems to track their employees’ work hours. Many such systems are set to automatically clock employees in and out at certain times or to automatically record a lunch of a set duration. However, many employees arrive at work early, stay late, or take short lunches. Automatic time clock systems frequently do not record this extra work time, and employees do not receive the wages they are owed. If your employer’s timekeeping system does not give you credit for all the time that you work, please contact us to take action.

Independent Contractors

Employers often improperly classify their employees as “independent contractors” in order to avoid paying these employees minimum wage or overtime compensation. The employer’s use of a Form 1099 does not automatically make an individual an independent contractor in the sense relevant to overtime and minimum wage laws. Several important factors may be considered in determining whether you have been improperly classified as an independent contractor. These factors include: (1) whether the person or entity to whom you are providing services has control or the right to control your work or the manner in which you perform you work; (2) the permanence of the working relationship; (3) the degree of skill required to perform the work; and (4) the degree to which your services are an integral part of the principal’s business. If you believe that you are being improperly classified as an independent contractor, please contact us to take action.

Assistant Managers/Shift Supervisors

Many employees with job titles such as "assistant manager" or "shift supervisor" believe they are not eligible to receive overtime as they are supervising others. Recently, a number of overtime cases have been filed on behalf of assistant managers whose primary duty is not management. Assistant managers or shift supervisors who do not regularly supervise two or more employees, do not have the authority to hire or fire employees, or spend the majority of their time performing the same duties as the employees they supervise may be eligible for overtime pay. If this describes your employment situation, please contact us to take action.

Field Service Technicians/Engineers

Many companies employ “field service” technicians or engineers to provide direct field service performing installations, testing, and providing customer service and technical support to customers in the field. Industries that employ field service people include the telecom, semiconductor, environmental, network-critical power equipment, computer, and construction industries. Because the job duties of field service technicians/engineers primarily consist of manual labor and customer service, these employees are generally eligible to earn overtime pay. If you are a field service technician or engineer, primarily provide technical support to your employer’s customers in the field, and you are not paid for overtime, please contact us to take action.

Compensatory Time

Compensatory time or "comp time" occurs when an employer allows an employee to receive days off in lieu of overtime compensation. Comp time in lieu of overtime compensation is permitted when you are a governmental employee, and when certain conditions are met. In addition, in some states private employers can give comp time in lieu of overtime compensation.

In general, non-exempt employees working for private employers are eligible for overtime pay during the weeks in which they work overtime. Private employers cannot give comp time to non-exempt employees in lieu of overtime pay and require those employees to use comp time at a later date. Non-exempt employees must be compensated for overtime during the week in which it is worked. If you are a not exempt employee, and required to take comp time in lieu of overtime compensation in weeks other than those in which you work overtime, please contact us to take action.