Palm Beach Gardens Unpaid Overtime Attorney

Florida employers often demand their employees work long hours, often in excess of the typical 40-hour workweek. There is no law against this. But employers do have to pay certain employees overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek.

If your employer is not following the law in this area, you have the right to take action. A qualified Palm Beach Gardens unpaid overtime attorney can help you fight for all the compensation you are entitled to under the law. At the Sconzo Law Office, P.A., we have successfully represented many clients in pursuing unpaid overtime claims.

Know Your Overtime Rights Under the FLSA

Most Florida workers are covered by a federal law called the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA establishes the right to overtime pay. Unless an employee is exempt from the FLSA, they are entitled to 1.5 times their normal pay rate for every hour worked in excess of 40 per workweek.

Note that the right to overtime is only based on the number of hours worked. Your employer does not have to pay you overtime rates for working nights, weekends, or holidays. And a workweek is any recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour days. It does not matter what specific day the workweek begins.

Now, certain workers are “exempt” from overtime rules. Most notably, salaried executive, professional, and administrative employees–so-called white collar workers–typically do not have to be paid overtime. But an employer cannot misclassify a worker to avoid overtime obligations. For example, simply paying an hourly worker a salary does not excuse the employer from paying overtime unless it can show that employee actually performs an exempt job.

An employer also cannot demand that an employee “waive” their rights to overtime pay as a condition of continued employment. For instance, if an employer asks an employee to sign an agreement to only count 40 hours per week as “working time,” that violates the FLSA. An employer may adopt a policy forbidding overtime hours, but if an employee actually works more than 40 hours in a workweek they are still entitled to the applicable overtime pay.

Indeed, anytime that an employer fails to pay overtime to a non-exempt employee, that employee can take legal action. The FLSA permits employees to file lawsuits for unpaid overtime within 2 years of a violation. However, if the employee can show the employer’s violation was willful and not simply a mistake, that time period is extended to 3 years. Additionally, Florida law enables employees to file a lawsuit within 4 or 5 years, depending on the circumstances, if an employer fails to pay the minimum wage.

Contact the Sconzo Law Office Today

Overtime pay disputes are surprisingly common in Florida. Employers looking to save a buck often try to do so by shortchanging their workers on overtime pay. But that is against the law and as a dedicated employee you do not have to put up with it. If you need legal advice or representation from a Palm Beach Gardens unpaid overtime attorney, contact the Sconzo Law Office, P.A., today to schedule a complimentary consultation.