How Can I Find Out If I Am Misclassified for Overtime Wage Purposes?

Employee misclassification happens more often than you might think. In some situations, employees are misclassified as independent contractors by employers so that employers do not have to provide certain benefits or attend to legal obligations. At the same time, that type of misclassification can also happen by mistake. Similarly, employees who are non-exempt might be misclassified as exempt employees, either because the employer wants to avoid minimum wage and overtime requirements under federal law, or because of the employer’s error.

Many workers assume that their employer knows how to properly classify them, and that the classification according to the employer is the correct one. However, if you have any reason to suspect that you may be a non-exempt employee owed overtime who has been misclassified as an exempt employee, it is important to seek legal advice as soon as possible. The best way to determine whether you have been misclassified is by having a lawyer assess your situation. In the meantime, our South Florida wage and hour lawyers can provide you with more information.

How Does Exempt and Non-Exempt Classification Work?

When an employee is “exempt,” this means they are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime legal protections provided by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A non-exempt employee, accordingly, has those protections and is owed overtime wages for additional hours worked beyond a 40-hour workweek. How do these classifications work?

In order for an employee to be “exempt,” the following must be true of the employee:

• Compensated on a salary basis;
• Salary must meet minimum exemption requirement of $684 per week (or $35,568 annually); and
• Duties must be of a specific nature related to the particular profession (e.g., executive, administrative, or professional duties for those exemptions), known as the “duties test.”

To be clear, an employee must pass the two-part salary test (salary basis and salary amount) and the duties test. If an employee does not pass those above tests, then the employee is a non-exempt employee who is owed overtime wages and has rights to overtime pay under the FLSA.

Wage Theft as a Result of Employee Misclassification

When an employee is misclassified and has not properly been paid overtime wages at a rate of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, this is known as wage theft. Accordingly, the employee may be eligible to file a wage theft claim.

In situations where an employer has made a classification mistake without intention, your lawyer may be able to quickly obtain your unpaid wages for you and ensure that you are properly classified going forward. However, if your employer will not remedy the issue, then you may be able to move forward with a formal wage theft claim with your attorney’s assistance.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Wage and Hour Law Attorney for Assistance with Your Classification and Wage Theft Case

Are you concerned that you may be owed overtime wages because you were misclassified as an exempt employee? If so, one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour law attorneys at Sconzo Law Office can assist you. Contact our firm today for help with your employee classification and wage theft case.

Source:

dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17a-overtime