Halunen & Associates

Overtime is pay for time spent working in excess of 40 hours a week. Regardless of whether or not you are paid hourly or by salary, you could qualify for overtime pay. If you  have not been paid for your overtime work, even if you are on salary, you may have legal recourse. At Halunen & Associates, our experienced attorneys understand how to evaluate the complexities of overtime law to obtain rightful settlements for overtime violations.  We work with clients not only in the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas, but throughout Minnesota.

Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a law which places all workers into one of two categories – salaried and hourly. The law requires certain types of employees to be paid by the hour rather than by salary.  This entitles those employees to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.  However, some employers illegally pay these employees by salary to avoid paying them overtime.  In order to determine if you qualify for overtime, you have to determine if you are legally classified as a salaried worker or as an hourly worker. In order to determine if you are misclassified, you must determine if you are exempt based on your job duty, which is described below.

Misclassification: Job Description vs. Job Duty

Employees should review their current job descriptions and make sure that they match the tasks and duties they are performing. The most common cause of an overtime violation lawsuit is the misclassification of an employee as exempt from overtime pay, when according to their daily duties they should not be exempt. The important issue to bear in mind is the common discrepancy between the job description written by the employer and the duties that are actually performed by the employee on a day-to-day basis. A common example is found in the retail industry. Managers of retail stores often spend most of their time performing sales and dealing with customers and other routine functions performed by lower ranking employees. Even though the manager’s job description lists management functions such as office work, assigning tasks, and employee supervision, the actual daily routines of the manager suggests that he/she should be classified as an hourly worker and should receive overtime compensation. In order to determine if you should be classified as an hourly worker or a salaried worker, fill out the following questionnaire:

Do you make more than $455/week?
If you said “no,” you qualify as an hourly worker and can earn overtime pay. If you said “yes,” then you still can be classified as an hourly worker, but only if you can say “no” to the following statements:

Are you an executive?
If you answer “no” to any of the following questions, then you are not an executive and can still qualify for overtime compensation:
Is it your primary duty to direct the work of at least two full-time employees?
Do you have the power to hire and fire employees?

Are you an administrator?
If you answer “no” to any of the following questions, then you are not an administrator:
Are you in a management position that relates to the general business operations of your employer?
Do you make mostly your own decisions at work?
This is the most slippery part of the law and denial of overtime pay most often results from a misinterpretation of this element of the law on the part of either the employer or the employee. If you are unsure about your answer to these questions, contact us and we will elucidate this portion of the law.

Are you a professional?
If you answer “no” to any of the following questions, then you are not a professional:
Does your job require advanced knowledge that is intellectual in character?
If your job requires advanced knowledge, did you acquire this knowledge in a course of specialized intellectual instruction?

Are you a computer specialist?
Are you employed as a systems analysis, programmer, software engineer, or other similarly skilled computer worker?
Job title has no bearing on this law. If your duties are not that of a skilled computer worker, but your job title is, for example, a “systems analyst”, you still qualify for overtime pay.

Are you a traveling salesperson?
If you answer “no” to the following question, then you are not a traveling salesperson:
Do you primarily make sales away from my employers place of business?

If you are not an executive, administrator, professional, computer specialist, or traveling salesperson, then you qualify under the FLSA as an hourly worker and, regardless of whether or not you are paid by salary or by the hour, qualify for overtime pay. If you have been working more than 40 hours a week without being paid overtime, you can take legal action. Contact us for a free consultation. If you would like to know more about overtime classification or still don’t know whether or not you qualify for overtime compensation, click here.

Time Not Spent Working

Another common cause of an overtime violation is the employer failing to count time not spent working. Under federal law, employers are required to pay employees for any time that the employees are under the control of the employer. Common examples are travel time, training, and breaks. Click here to access more information about working time.

If you feel you are not being fairly compensated for your overtime hours, you may have legal recourse. At Halunen & Associates, our experienced attorneys understand how to evaluate the complexities of overtime law to obtain rightful settlements for overtime violations. If you have any further questions about Overtime Violations, or if you think you are not being fairly compensated, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail our offices, or fill out a contact form. We’d be happy to help you evaluate your situation with a free initial consultation.