Overtime

Overtime Violations

The law requires employers to pay most employees time-and-a-half for all hours worked beyond the 40-hour work week. But the law provides a broad assortment of exemptions that employers exploit to deprive as many employees as possible of their earned overtime. Contact the attorneys at Herrmann & Murphy if you feel you’ve been violated.

What is Overtime Fraud?

Employers often classify their employees as independent contractors in order to avoid these laws altogether. Others claim that an obscure exemption applies and refuse to pay their employees their earned overtime under the guise that an employee is a supervisor, a commissioned sales person, or a high-level administrator when they are really anything but. Still other employers require employees to perform work off the clock in order to artificially reduce their hours worked and avoid the requirement to pay overtime. Employers have also illegally made changes to the official workweek in order to reduce the number of employees who are working more than 40 hours in a “workweek,” even though their total is far more than 40 in a given calendar week.

The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employees to sue for two years’ worth of damages. However, where the employer is guilty of bad faith, employees can collect damages for the last three years and liquidated damages (i.e., double the amount the employee was harmed).

The North Carolina Wage and Hour Act repeats these same requirements, but generally defers to federal law on overtime and minimum wage claims.

How We can Help You

We have held such employers responsible and obtained fair compensation for our clients when these employers push the envelope in applying the law’s exemptions too broadly or when they otherwise cheat their employees out of their hard earned wages. If you believe you are owed overtime, you should reach out for a consultation today.

Reach out for a consultation today.