Columbus Unpaid Overtime Attorney

At Brian G. Miller Co., L.P.A., our Columbus unpaid overtime attorneys represent individual workers, and groups of workers, whose employers have violated the law by failing to pay them overtime or the correct overtime wages owed.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs how employers pay their employees. For overtime pay purposes, the FLSA separates jobs into two categories: “exempt” and “non-exempt.” Unlike exempt employees, non-exempt employees are eligible to be paid overtime pay. Specifically, employers must pay non-exempt employees one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 hours per workweek.

When are employees “non-exempt” for overtime purposes?

Generally speaking, most employees who earn minimum wage are non-exempt employees and have the right to be paid overtime. However, determining whether an employee is non-exempt, or exempt, can be difficult and confusing. Often, making such a determination is dependent upon various factors unique to that individual such as his or her job duties, salary level, and how that individual is paid. Please contact our unpaid overtime attorneys in Columbus, Ohio to determine whether you are non-exempt.

Misclassifying Employees Who Are Eligible for Overtime Pay

Because the determination in whether an employee is exempt or non-exempt can often be difficult, employers sometimes misclassify employees. When an employee is misclassified as “exempt”, that person still may be owed overtime wages for the overtime hours that he or she has worked. If you, or a group of workers, are owed unpaid overtime wages due to being misclassified, please call our unpaid overtime attorneys in Columbus, Ohio to discuss your potential wage and hour claims.

Failing to Pay Off-The-Clock Overtime Wages

Another common wage and hour violation results when employers require their employees to perform off the clock work, such as balancing registers, cleaning, opening or closing restaurants, and other tasks, but fail to pay them for those hours worked. Regardless of whether an employee actually clocks in, employers still must pay their employees for any hours worked. A minimum wage violation has occurred if those hours remain unpaid. However, if the employee’s off-the-clock work time results in that employee working over 40 hours during that workweek, the employer must pay overtime wages for those hours as well.

Miscalculating Overtime Wages For Tipped Employees

When it comes to paying employees who customarily receive tips, employers are permitted to accept a tip credit of up to $5.12 per hour. This means that those employers taking the tip credit may pay their employees as low as $2.13 per hour for non-overtime hours. Still, employers must pay employees one-and-one-half times their “regular rate of pay” for any hours worked beyond 40 hours per workweek. However, when it comes to calculating the overtime wage rate, employers may not use $2.13 as the employees’ “regular rate of pay.” Rather, employers must use the minimum wage rates required by law to multiply by one and one half. After doing so, employers may then subtract their tip credit to determine the proper overtime wage. Therefore, under federal minimum wage, determining the proper overtime rate may look like the following: $7.25 (federal minimum wage) x 1.5 = $10.88; $10.88 – $5.12 (tip credit) = $5.76; $5.76 is the overtime rate required to be paid to tipped employees under these circumstances.

If you are a tipped employee and believe you are being paid overtime incorrectly, please call our Columbus unpaid overtime attorneys to discuss your potential claims.

Using Illegal Rounding Policies

Employers may use “rounding” in its time-keeping system to track an employee’s work time for pay purposes. For example, on a fifteen-minute rounding policy, an employee who clocks in during 8:01 – 8:07 will be paid as if they started at 8:00, whereas an employee who clocks in at 8:08 – 8:14 will be paid as if they started at 8:15.

For a rounding policy to be lawful, the following must be true:

Employers may not use time increments larger than a quarter hour to round an employee’s time. (5, 10, 15-minute increments are lawful).
Employers may not use different time increments in its rounding policies for clocking-in versus clocking-out.
Employers may only use a rounding policy if it benefits both the employee and employer and does not result in systemic underpayment to employees.
Rounding policies must accurately round time. In a fifteen-minute increment policy, minutes 1-7 must be rounded down whereas minutes 8-14 must be rounded up.

When violations result from illegal rounding, any unpaid hours that result in unpaid overtime is a wage and hour violation of the FLSA. Violations resulting from illegal rounding often affect large groups of workers who may have the ability to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the entire group. If you or a group of workers have been subjected to an illegal rounding policy and are owed unpaid wages, please call our unpaid overtime attorneys in Columbus, Ohio.

Call Our Unpaid Overtime Attorneys in Columbus, Ohio to Discuss Your Claims

Our unpaid overtime law firm has years of experience in working complex cases. In addition, we carry a manageable case load, which allows us an ability to pay careful attention to the details of each case and be available to discuss and work closely with our clients in achieving favorable results. Most important to us are the perspectives of our clients. To view their experiences, we would encourage you to review our testimonial page.

If you or someone close to you has experienced a wage and hour violation, please call 614-221-4035 to speak with an experienced Columbus unpaid overtime lawyer to discuss your potential claims and rights.