If you are, more often than not, working more than 40 hours per work week, you may begin to question why you are not receiving additional pay benefits. Follow along to find out how your employer might attempt to deny you overtime pay and how a proficient Gloucester County wage and hour lawyer at The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. can work to retrieve your rightful pay.
Who is entitled to overtime pay in the state of New Jersey?
You must be well-versed in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that governs overtime laws in the state of New Jersey and throughout the country. This Act requires that certain employees be paid one and a half times their regular pay rate for every additional hour they work after 40 hours in a given work week. What’s more, this higher pay rate may apply if said employees work on federally-declared holidays.
It must be emphasized that only certain employees are entitled to this overtime pay, while others are exempt. In the state of New Jersey, exempt employees usually consist of executive employees, administrative employees, professional employees, and other salary-based employees. Examples of other exempt employees are as follows:
- Certain computer professionals who are covered under Section 13(a)(17) of the FLSA.
- Certain farm workers who work on smaller-scale farms.
- Certain retail employees who work on commission.
- Certain law enforcement officers who work for public police departments with less than five officers.
- Airline employees, babysitters, taxicab drivers, etc.
How might my employer attempt to deny me overtime pay?
Upon initial reflection, you may not notice that you are not receiving your rightful pay. Below are examples of tactics your employer may use to discretely deny you overtime pay:
- Your employer may include a clause in your employee contract that states you will not be paid overtime if you work more than 40 hours in a given work week.
- Your employer may require you to “clock out” at the end of your scheduled shift while still ordering you to complete additional tasks.
- Your employer may require you to be “on call” or complete additional tasks from home without additional pay.
- Your employer may misclassify you as an “exempt” employee so that you cannot be paid overtime.
- Your employer may give you a salary pay to exempt you from overtime pay, but your salary may still fall below the legal requirement (i.e., $684 per week in the state of New Jersey).
With all that being said, if your employer requires you to work overtime without your discretion and additional pay, then this may be considered a wage and hour violation. Such a violation may make you eligible to take legal action against your negligent employer.
So, you must not ignore your potential wage and hour claim for much longer. Instead, you must retain the services of one of the talented New Jersey employment lawyers from The Vigilante Law Firm, P.C. today.
