HOUSTON, Texas. According to OilPrice.com, recent drops in oil prices have led some companies to declare bankruptcy. However, even as these companies declared bankruptcy, reports indicate that their CEOs received large bonuses. Some of these bonuses turned out to be larger than the CEO’s regular salary. Even as the average oilfield worker lost his or her job and struggled to get paid for overtime work, some CEOs walked away with bonuses exceeding $6 million.
In fact, some oil company CEOs received compensation in the millions even as they laid off hundreds of thousands of workers. In one instance, a CEOs multi-million-dollar salary was reduced by only $200,000, even as hundreds of thousands of workers for the company were laid off. Yet, some oilfield workers are fighting back. According to Inside Energy, some oilfield workers are learning that they weren’t paid the time and a half overtime wages they deserved when their workweeks exceeded 40 hours. While oilfield workers’ salaries were impressive, some wage violation lawyers have found that the workers may have been entitled to receive even more money in compensation.
In fact, wage lawsuits against oil and gas companies have been on the rise in recent years. Workers who have been laid off or who have seen a reduction in their hours are learning that they could have made more money. Texas leads the country in wage violation lawsuits.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the oil industry is the leading violator when it comes to not paying workers the overtime they deserve. Unfortunately, because so many oil and gas companies violate wage law, oil companies may not abide by federal wage laws so that they can remain competitive. It isn’t until they are called out in court through individual wage violation lawsuits or class action lawsuits that they pay their workers what they deserve.
Workers themselves may not always be aware of their rights. They may be misclassified by their employers who tell them they may not be entitled to overtime wages. Individuals may be classified as managers, but perform no managerial duties, for example. In other instances, individuals may put in long weeks and still not get paid time and a half for the overtime they put in.
Currently the Department of Labor has approximately 1000 wage violation investigations in place. However, the department doesn’t have the time and resources to investigate every single claim of wage violation. At the end of the day, workers themselves have to self-advocate.
If you were an oilfield worker and believe that you may not have received the overtime payment that you deserve, consider speaking to Moore & Associates, wage violation attorneys in Houston, Texas. Our oilfield unpaid overtime lawyers can work with you to review your pay stubs, review the hours you worked, take a look at your employment classification, and fight to help you receive the back pay you may deserve under the law. Visit us today at https://www.mooreandassociates.net/ to learn more.
