Moore & Associates is an employment law firm in Midland, Texas that can assist you with a range of employment law concerns. The employment lawyers at Moore & Associates can assist you if you have questions about discrimination on the job, sexual harassment, unpaid overtime, day rate overtime, workplace safety concerns, wage and labor laws, and other concerns you might have about employment law in Midland, Texas. Our employment attorney works closely with workers who believe they may be owed unpaid overtime. It has come to light that some employers have failed to pay workers the overtime they may deserve. Workers in the restaurant industry and some workers in the oilfield have experienced difficulties with receiving the overtime wages they might deserve. The employment lawyer at Moore & Associates in Midland, Texas may be able to help you with your case if you worked overtime, but didn’t receive overtime pay for time worked.
Unpaid Overtime and Employment Law in Midland, Texas
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires employees who are covered under the act to receive overtime pay for every hour over 40 hours they work in a given workweek. Overtime pay should be paid at time and half the regular worker’s rate. So if the worker makes $10 an hour, overtime pay would be $15 an hour for every hour over a 40-hour workweek the worker puts in. There are workers who may be considered exempt from receiving overtime pay and the act provides some provisions by which employers can pay salaried workers overtime pay or workers who put in variable hours each week.
Overtime pay only applies to time a worker puts in over a 40-hour workweek. Employers are not required to pay workers overtime for weekend work, Saturday or Sunday work, holidays, or working weekends or nights, unless working these times puts a worker over a 40-hour workweek. Some employees may also be exempt from overtime pay, but these workers must be salaried workers and must receive a minimum salary per year in order to be considered exempt.
There are several industries where workers have been misclassified, or paid in ways that denied workers the overtime pay they were entitled to receive. Have you not received overtime pay, despite putting in long workweeks? Do you have questions about whether you are entitled to receive overtime pay? Moore & Associates is a Midland, Texas labor law firm that may be able to help you with your case. Our labor attorney can review your situation, estimate the overtime pay you may have been entitled to receive, and fight to help you get the overtime pay you may deserve under the law.
Day Rate Overtime Law Firm in Midland, Texas
Some employers try to bypass paying workers overtime by paying workers a “day rate.” But if you are paid a day rate and are covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act, you may not always be receiving the overtime pay you may deserve under the law. For example, if your daily work schedule is more than eight hours a day consistently, you may be putting in overtime hours. Under the law, if you are paid a day rate, your employer must average how much money you are making each hour for a 40-hour workweek. One easy way to think about this would be to take your day rate and divide it by 8 hours. Think 5 days of work a week multiplied by an eight-hour day would give you a 40-hour workweek. This is a good starting estimate for your rate of pay. When you work over eight hours, are you paid time and a half this rate for overtime?
It is important to understand that your right to receive overtime pay cannot be waived (that is, taken away from you) because your employer says so. This means that if your employer agrees only to pay you a fixed rate of overtime if you have to work more hours, your employer may still owe you overtime pay if your time and a half rate was higher. Even if your employer tells you that you need to pre-authorize overtime hours or that overtime hours won’t be paid unless pre-authorized, this still doesn’t waive your employer’s obligation to pay you overtime. You cannot sign away your rights to be paid overtime in an employment contract. FLSA requires employers to keep track of workers’ hours and to track if workers are putting in overtime; workers are required to be paid time and a half for overtime hours they work.
Calculating overtime pay owed can sometimes be complicated. But the simple fact is this: if you worked overtime (that is, if you worked more than 40 hours in a given workweek), you generally would be entitled to receive time and a half pay. The day rate overtime law firm of Moore & Associates in Midland, Texas may be able to help you. We can review your employment situation, advise you if you were misclassified under the law, calculate the amount of backpay or overtime you may be owed, and help you take action to receive the backpay you might be entitled to receive. Contact the day rate overtime lawyer at Moore & Associates and employment lawyers Midland, Texas today to learn more about your rights and options under the law. Some workers might even be owed thousands of dollars in backpay and not realize it. Moore & Associates is here to help you.
