In the United States, covered employees who work for covered employers must pay one and a half times the hourly pay paid to such an employee for each and every hour worked in excess of 40 hours in a week. The law which addresses overtime pay is known as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The State of Florida does not have an independent law concerning overtime pay. To enforce a claim in Florida for overtime, the FLSA federal law must be used. Whether an employer is a covered employer under the law and whether an employee is a covered employee under the law is intensely fact-specific and should be ascertained by an experienced unpaid overtime attorney.
Generally speaking, a covered employer is an employer that is engaged in interstate commerce and has revenues in excess of $500,000 per year. Interstate commerce is loosely defined as engaging in commerce with more than the company’s home state.
To determine if an employee is covered under the law is a lot more complex. The FLSA has over 100 exemptions which exceed the scope of this blog. Very generally speaking, an employee is covered under the FLSA if the employee is a manual labor employee. For instance, managers are typically exempt if they are salaried. Additionally, if an employee is paid hourly, typically that employee must be paid overtime pay unless the employee is exempt as a 1099 “employee” or is in specialized professions such as attorneys and doctors.
The best way to determine if you are a covered employee under the FLSA is to consult with an unpaid overtime attorney. Additionally, the Department of Labor (DOL) is the agency responsible for addressing unpaid overtime claims. The DOL also has numerous accurate information and guidelines that can help an employee determine if they are covered under the FLSA. Nevertheless, to determine if an employee is in fact covered under the FLSA requires a review by an experienced unpaid overtime attorney or lawyer. You should also be mindful that the DOL can not force an employer to pay you correctly. The DOL may investigate a claim and make recommendations. However, it is the Courts that determine if, in fact, a violation has occurred, and more importantly, it is only a Court that can cause your employer to correctly pay you. To pursue a claim in Federal Court, you should pursue such a claim with an experienced unpaid overtime attorney.
