A lot of hours worked, overtime not Paid!!!!!!!

I work in this cleaning company and i get paid by salary plus bonuses plus overtime. My weekly regular pay is $350, bonus $180 and weekly bonus of $105.The thing is that the minimun amount of hours that I have to work is 55. Overtime is paid after 11 hours of daily work. Each overtime hour is about $11. I've work here for almost 6 years. This coming year The company will be changing the method to per hour rate. Is there anything I could do to get money back for those 3 extra hours a day that I have worked every day?

1 answer  |  asked Dec 22, 2004 07:07 AM [EST]  |  applies to New York

Answers (1)

David M. Lira
Overtime Pay is Still the Law

Although the political environment has probably caused some employers to believe that overtime regulations will soon go by way of the doodoo bird, the law still is that employees with certain exceptions must be compensated at a rate one-and-one-half times the employee's regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 hours in a work week.

The applicable laws are enforced by the U.S. and New York State Departments of Labor. In addition, employees who have not been paid overtime can sue.

Under the federal law, you can go back as far as two or three years, depending on the facts. Employees are also entitled to "liquidated damages" equal to the amount of unpaid wages. In other words, in an overtime suit, you can sue for twice the unpaid amount of overtime.

Under New York State law, you can go back as far as six years. You can also get liquidated damages under state law, but the amount of liquidated damages is only 25 percent of the amount of unpaid overtime.

Under both laws, employees are also entitled to attorney's fees. That is, if you win, the employer gets to pay for the attorney representing the employee.

Employees can sue based on an estimate of the amount of unpaid overtime. The reason for this is that employer's have an obligation to maintain employee time records.

One employee can also bring a lawsuit on behalf not only on behalf of him or herself, but also on behalf of all similarly situated employees.

There are more and more lawsuits being brought by employees for unpaid overtime. There are also efforts going on on the federal level aimed at limiting the number of employees entitled to get overtime.

posted by David M. Lira  |  Dec 22, 2004 08:30 AM [EST]

Answer This Question

Sign In to Answer this Question

Related Questions with Answers

Have an Employment Law question?