Overtime is a hot-button issue with employers demanding more out of their employees than at any other time. They want longer shifts and more hours per week. This is leading some employees to demand fair wages and hours. Many employees are resigning and finding work elsewhere.
Situations like this are referred to as the Great Resignation. In the last year, 47.4 million workers have voluntarily quit their jobs. They are seeking better working conditions, fewer hours, higher pay, and more benefits.
The biggest challenge is the 40-hour work week as employers are demanding more. This is creating issues about whether employers have to pay overtime once you exceed this amount. Here are some insights on overtime and how it applies to 40 hours.
Federal Law: Does an employer have to pay overtime after 40 hours?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay you overtime of 1.5 times your regular wage. This applies to those situations when you exceed 40 hours per week. The FLSA does have some exceptions:
- Weekends
- Holidays
- Regular days of rest (days off).
The FLSA kicks in when your total hours exceed 40 hours per week at these times. These are federal laws mandating overtime pay when you go beyond 40 hours.
Who is Covered by the FLSA?
The FLSA sets standards for those employees that are covered and entitled to overtime pay. These include
- Retail employees
- Office workers
- Janitorial staff
- Restaurant workers
- Construction workers
- Cooks
- Babysitters
- Servers
- Housekeepers
- Laborers
- Practical Nurses
- Factory workers
- Cashiers
- Paralegals.
These are just a few of the jobs that are protected by the FLSA. Its coverage applies to any employee working for a business that does $500,000 or more in sales or is shipping different products and services to different states.
The different state portion is covered if your employer makes a phone call, sends a letter, or is shipping products to other parts of the country.
For example, if you are working for a retail business that does $100,000 in sales. They are not covered by the $500,000 standard. But, if they are doing anything that involves interstate commerce, including sending letters, emails, phone calls, or receiving something from another state, they must pay overtime. This is regardless of whether or not they are doing sales in these states. The fact that they are crossing state lines in one way or another requires them to pay overtime under the FLSA.
These employers must pay you 1.5 times your hourly wage from the moment that you exceed 40 hours per week. The law is very clear about when these standards apply.
Exemptions
The FLSA does exempt some occupations from overtime. Specifically, those employees that work for the government in select areas are exempt. These include:
- Firefighters
- Paramedics
- Police.
These professions are critical to public safety, and overtime rules don’t apply to them. They are government employees and are covered by labor agreements with their unions and respective governments.
The FLSA also offers other exemptions for certain categories of workers. These employees must earn over $455 per week and fall into the category of professionals. These include:
- Executives
- Administrators
- External salespeople
- Independent contractors
- Computer-related workers.
These exemptions apply because of the wages and the nature of their work. They are not considered to be paid employees but either executives or people who work for themselves, such as independent contractors, salespeople, and computer-related workers.
Some other categories that have exemptions include:
- Select agricultural/farm workers
- Transportation workers
- Housekeepers
- Railroad workers.
The FLSA will have a series of tests to decide eligibility based on pay rate, skill levels, and working conditions.
Federal laws provide the standards that all of the states follow when setting overtime rules. Florida goes beyond them and mirrors some parts but will establish independent guidelines for overtime.
Are Companies in Florida Required to Pay Overtime after 40 Hours?
Florida expands the FLSA features and includes its set of standards for overtime. The biggest difference is in the number of hours worked daily. Florida has no guidelines for overtime when you exceed 8 hours per day. Florida focuses on anything that exceeds 40 hours per week, similar to the FLSA.
Florida has one exception to the daily overtime rules. It applies to manual laborers that exceed 10 hours per day. Situations like this require them to be paid 1.5 times their hourly rate for anything above 10 hours.
How is Overtime Calculated in Florida?
Overtime is based on the minimum wage in Florida. The state-mandated amount is $10.00 per hour and is 1.5 times your hourly pay after 40 hours in a week. If you earn more than the minimum wage, you are entitled to overtime pay.
Florida also set another standard of $455 a week or $23,660 for employees that work in non-exempt industries and jobs. Those making less than this amount are entitled to overtime pay at the rate of 1.5 times their hourly pay.
Florida covers employees such as paralegals and practical nurses for overtime. These professions require long hours, and this is a grey area under federal law. Florida mandates their protections to prevent these employees from being exploited.
Florida’s Exemptions
Florida expands upon the FLSA to create certain categories of exempt workers. These include:
- Executive positions: An executive is anyone that is full-time and manages two or more employees. You must spend no more than 20% of your time doing other activities (40% in retail) and the job is not a salaried position.
- Professionals: Those jobs that require advanced education or knowledge are considered to be professionals. These include skilled computer technicians, teachers, and artists. The job must be intellectual, involving the use of your judgment and intellectual abilities. You must spend no more than 20% of your time not doing things that are not related to the above standards to qualify as a professional.
- Outside sales positions: This applies to you when you are involved in taking orders or making sales outside of your employer’s primary workplace. You are paid a straight commission, salary, or a commission plus salary structure. You are spending no more than 20% of your time doing other activities that fall outside of the job of doing sales (such as paperwork and in-house office tasks).
If your job falls into any of these categories, you are not entitled to overtime protections under Florida’s overtime laws.
What Should You do if You are Not Receiving Overtime Pay?
You should contact an attorney at Feldman Legal Group if you are not receiving your overtime pay. Many employers don’t want to pay overtime and feel like they can get around the federal and state laws. This is often referred to as manipulation or pay record alteration. These employers are trying to hide the number of hours you work and could try to classify you into an exempt category. They want to increase their bottom-line results at your expense to take advantage of you.
These practices are illegal and you are entitled to all of your overtime pay plus punitive damages. Federal and state laws punish employers that engage in these practices to prevent them from trying to circumvent overtime laws.
We will do several things to ensure that you are treated fairly by your employer, including:
- Evaluating your situation: Our team will go in and look at how federal and state overtime laws apply to your situation. We will determine whether you have a case and the best course of action.
- Gathering evidence: We will gather evidence to show that you are entitled to overtime. These include things such as documenting the dates you worked, that you are a covered employee, eligibility for overtime, and failure to receive it.
- Preventing retaliation: Your employer is not allowed to retaliate against you for filing a complaint with the Department of Labor or a lawsuit for your overtime pay. We will make sure you are treated fairly and that nothing happens to you when we are working with you to get what you deserve.
- Representing you: Our team will file all of the necessary paperwork and will represent you throughout the process.
These are some of the things we will do to help you get your overtime pay and hold your employer accountable.
If you are not being paid overtime, contact our attorneys at Feldman Legal Group at (813) 639-9366 today.
Contact Feldman Legal Group Today
If you are entitled to overtime pay, you need to make sure that you get everything you deserve. Employers will try different things to cheat you out of your money to improve their bottom-line results.
Don’t let this happen to you when you can contact us and let our team go after your employer. They must pay you overtime, and withholding it opens them up to a complaint with the Department of Labor and litigation. Contact us now at (813) 639-9366 so we can review your case.
(877) 946-8293