Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), covered non-exempt employees are legally entitled to overtime pay at one and a half times their regular hourly rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a single workweek.
Common Wage Theft Practices
- Off-the-Clock Work: Requiring workers to complete mandatory prep, cleanup, or emails before clocking in or after clocking out.
- Misclassification as Salary Exempt: Paying an employee a salary does not automatically make them exempt from overtime unless they meet both the statutory salary threshold and specific executive, administrative, or professional job duties tests.
- Automatic Meal Break Deductions: Deducting 30 minutes for meal breaks when the employee was required to remain on call or perform work duties.
Liquidated Damages and Statutory Lookback Periods
Under the FLSA, workers can recover up to 2 years of back wages for standard violations and up to 3 years for willful violations, plus an equal amount in mandatory liquidated damages and attorney fees paid by the employer.