HOUSTON, Texas. According to the Casper Star Tribune, an oilfield services company in Wyoming has been ordered to pay $1.2 million in unpaid overtime wages to its workers. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigated the company after learning that some workers had been paid extra for each foot of casing they installed. However, when the Department of Labor looked more closely at the wages paid to the workers, they found that this payment model resulted in workers not getting paid the overtime wages they deserved.
Pay structures can vary from company to company, but in general, workers are entitled to time and half pay for every hour of overtime they work. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, any non-exempt worker who works over 40 hours a week is entitled to receive time and a half for overtime pay. While companies are not required to pay overtime for Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, any time a worker puts in beyond 40 hours is subject to the overtime pay law. If you have not received money for overtime pay, you may be entitled to receive back pay or pursue a claim.
Some jobs are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. For example, some agricultural workers may be exempt. Executives may also be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, as may some salaried employees. Some professional workers such as teachers, lawyers, architects, dentists, and accountants may also be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, if you are being classified as exempt, it is important to ensure that you are actually exempt and not being misclassified.
If you are not being paid overtime and aren’t sure about whether you qualify for overtime pay or qualify to receive back pay, you may want to speak to the qualified employment lawyers at Moore & Associates in Houston, Texas today. In recent months, we have been seeing more cases where oilfield companies failed to pay workers the overtime they were entitled to receive. Could you be entitled to receive additional overtime pay?
How a company structures your pay can also impact whether you are paid the salary you may deserve to receive under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Sometimes oilfield companies may misclassify workers or employ pay structures that result in workers getting lower wages than they may deserve under the law. Unfortunately, workers may not always be aware of their rights and they may not always know how to fight for the wages they may deserve. Sometimes the pay structures may look attractive on the surface (extra pay for every extra foot of pipeline installed), but when workers do the math, they may actually receive more money for just getting paid for hourly work.
If you work in the oilfield industry, consider protecting your rights today. Speak to Moore & Associates, employment law attorneys in Houston, Texas today.
Moore & Associates
440 Louisiana Street, Suite 675
Houston, TX 77002
713-581-9001
