Fair Labor Wage Claims

Claims for Unpaid Wages and Unpaid Overtime – Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Disputes

Our attorneys have litigated numerous wage and hour cases under federal and state wage and hour laws, including individual and collective actions for Clients in Atlanta and the surrounding Metro Atlanta area. If you believe your employer has failed to pay you wages or overtime, connect our office for a consultation 770-450-6155.

Wage and hour claims include claims for:

  • unpaid wages,
  • unpaid overtime,
  • failure to pay minimum wage,
  • unpaid commissions,
  • misclassification of employees as exempt from receiving overtime,
  • unauthorized deduction of wages,
  • bonus issues, tip credit issues, and
  • off-the-clock violations.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides protection to ensure employees are paid the wages, including overtime wages, that they are owed. The FLSA protects against practices such as paying less than minimum wages ($7.25 for most workers, $2.13 for tipped workers), paying wages on-time (such as an employer missing a regular pay day), paying overtime (1.5 times the regular rate of pay) when working more than forty (40) hours a workweek, and prohibits forced off-the-clock work, among other protections.

FLSA Frequently Asked Questions

Who does the FLSA Cover?
What is Unpaid Overtime or What are Unpaid Wages?
Are There Exceptions to the FLSA?
What are the Common Exemptions from Overtime Pay?
What if an Employer Misclassifies an Employee as Exempt from the FLSA? 
What are the Minimum Salary Requirements for a Salaried Employee (or an Exempt Employee) Under the FLSA? 
What Rights and Remedies are Available to Employees Whose Employer Violates the FLSA?
How Long Does an Employee Have to Seek Unpaid Overtime or Unpaid Wages?
Who can help recover unpaid wages or unpaid overtime?  
Can I be fired for making a claim against my employer?

Who does the FLSA cover?

The FLSA enterprise coverage applies to most businesses, large or small, provided that the business 1) has at least two employees, 2) is involved in interstate commerce (such as transacting business between states, or using instrumentalities of interstate commerce such as a telephone or cell phone, taking credit card payments, etc.), and 3) has an annual gross revenue of $500,000 or more. If the Business does these three things, then all the employees are covered under the FLSA under enterprise coverage.

If an employee is not covered because the Business does not have enterprise coverage, an employee can still be covered under FLSA, if that employee individually, in the performance of his or her job duties, engages in interstate commerce. An employee individually engages in interstate commerce if the employee performed duties such as making telephone calls, taking credit card payments, etc. Our attorneys have experience in unpaid wage and unpaid overtime claims. Contact us so we can help you determine whether you are entitled to unpaid overtime or unpaid wages.

What is Unpaid Overtime or What are Unpaid Wages?

The FLSA establishes a forty (40) hour work week. All nonexempt employees (hourly employees), are entitled to be paid at a rate of one and one half (1.5) times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty (40) each work week. Despite this straight forward rule, employers will often times, intentionally or unintentionally, get it wrong. For example, if an employee is paid every two (2) weeks and works 45 hours in week one (1) and 35 hours in week two (2) (for a total of 80 hours for the pay period), this employee is entitled to five (5) hours of overtime pay for the week in which in was worked. Overtime is computed for each week worked and should be paid on that basis.

Often times employees will work voluntarily or involuntarily off-the-clock. An employee may be directed to make or just decides to make a bank deposit on the way home from work, drop the mail at the post office after clocking out, answer a few quick emails off-the-clock, or even work through a lunch break (without being paid) to catch-up on some work. The FLSA mandates that hourly employees be compensated for this time. An employer cannot take advantage of hourly employees by not paying them for this time. Our attorneys are well versed in FLSA claims regarding unpaid overtime and unpaid wages. We can help you determine whether you are entitled to recover unpaid wages.

Are There Exceptions to the FLSA?

The FLSA has many specifically defined exceptions to the requirement that an employee is paid overtime. Regardless of whether there is an exception to the overtime pay provisions, the FLSA does mandate that all employees, whether or not exempt, be paid at least minimum wage for the hours worked in a workweek. If an employer pays an employee late, not on the regular payroll dates, then the employee has a claim under the FLSA. Our attorneys can help you determine whether you have a claim for unpaid wages or unpaid overtime.

What are the Common Exemptions from Overtime Pay?

The FLSA is a statute where the employer must prove that it is entitled to the exemption for each and every week worked. Employers will often use the permitted exemptions, whether correctly or incorrectly, to avoid paying employees overtime. Some common exemptions are the following:

  • Independent Contracts
  • Commissioned Sales Employees
  • Management Employees
  • Highly Compensated Employees
  • Certain types of administrative workers
  • Some Farm Workers
  • Tipped employees

The rules surrounding those employees that qualify for an exemption are very complex. If there is any doubt, you should consult with our Atlanta attorneys regarding unpaid wages and unpaid overtime to ensure you are properly compensated.

What if an Employer Misclassifies an Employee as Exempt from the FLSA?

The classification of an employee as exempt or non-exempt is an exceedingly complex matter that is dependent on the actual work duties that an employee performs (not those that the employer says the employee performs). For example, an employer cannot claim that an employer is a manager (or an executive under the executive exemption) if he or she does not actually manage any employees. The FLSA and the Courts have developed legal tests to determine whether an employee is truly exempt from the FLSA. Many employers mistakenly misclassify, either intentionally or unintentionally, employees as exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements. When an employer misclassifies an employee, that employee may have a claim for unpaid overtime wages. Contact our Atlanta attorneys to help you determine if you have suffered unpaid wages or overtime based on a misclassification.

What are the Minimum Salary Requirements for a Salaried Employee (or an Exempt Employee) Under the FLSA?

One of the most important parts of the test for determining any exemption under the FLSA is the requirement that an employee be paid a minimum salary. This is referred to as the salary basis test. The Department of Labor, the arm of the Federal Government responsible for making rules related to the FLSA, has increased the standard salary level from $455 per week to $684 per week (effective January 1, 2020). In other words, all employees making less $684 per week or less than $35,568 per year, are now entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked.

The salary basis test is more than mandating the amount of money that an employee is paid each week. It also means that an employee must be paid a salary, a fixed sum, that does not vary with the amount of hours worked or the quality of the work. If an employee’s compensation varies week to week, then that employee is not properly classified as exempt under the FLSA. Employees who are required to track their time (i.e. punching a time card, filling time sheets, etc.) and are paid on that tracked time are not exempt from the FLSA, which entitles them to overtime compensation. If you have any doubt that you are improperly classified as exempt, our attorneys can help you.

What Rights and Remedies are Available to Employees Whose Employer Violates the FLSA?

The FLSA was created to protect you, the employee! The law is a pro-employee federal labor law that sought to ensure your baseline rights are protected when an employee works for an employer. Such rights include being paid for all hours worked, being paid minimum wages, setting maximum hours worked each week, among others. The law specifically states that these rights cannot be waived by an employee to ensure that hourly employees are properly protected. If a nonexempt employee is due overtime wages or unpaid wages, the overtime wages must be paid.

In addition, the FLSA also provides that employees are entitled to recover an amount equal to the amount of unpaid wages or unpaid overtime assessed against an employer as “liquidated damages.” Unless an employer can raise a proper defense, the liquidated damages are mandatory. What this means, for example, is that if an employee is owed $1,000 in unpaid wages or unpaid overtime, then the employee may recover an additional $1,000 in liquidated damages.

How Long Does an Employee Have to Seek Unpaid Overtime or Unpaid Wages?

The FLSA has a very limited timeline, known as a statute of limitations, for an employee to recover unpaid wages or unpaid overtime. The FLSA mandates that a lawsuit is filed within two (2) years from the date that the employer failed to pay the employee the wages or failed to pay the employee overtime for most violations. If the employee does not file within that time period, then the Employee forfeits his or her right to recover those unpaid wages or unpaid overtime. The statute of limitations can be extended in some cases to three (3) years, but extending the statute of limitations is not guaranteed, since the employer must have willfully violated the FLSA to extend. An employee should exercise his or her rights as soon as possible so as to ensure the employee recovers all that is available under the law. Our attorneys can help you recover your unpaid wages and unpaid overtime.

Who can help recover unpaid wages or unpaid overtime?

If you believe that you are owed unpaid wages, that you are owed unpaid overtime, or that your employer has failed to comply with the FLSA, you should contact our attorney to discuss your unpaid wages and unpaid overtime.

Can I be fired for making a claim against my employer?

The FLSA specifically prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee in any way when an employee asserts. An employer may not terminate or in any other way discriminate against an employee for asserting a claim under the FLSA.

Nick Martin
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