Unfortunately, a lot of business owners in Kentucky do not pay overtime like they should. Whether it is intentional or not, many employers are not paying their workers like they should. Some employers misclassify an employee’s job duties or just flat our refuse to pay overtime or pay cash instead thinking that will be ok. Well it is not. And we, at the Law Offices of Andrew S. Alitowski are there to help you and get you your hard earned money.

Overtime is defined under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as requiring an employer to pay at least minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime at one and one-half times an employee’s regular rate of pay for all work in excess of 40 hours per week. So, for example if you make $16/hour and work 50 hours one week, then you are entitled to an additional $22/hour for every hour over 40 hours. Thus you would be entitled to an additional $220 ($22 x 10 hours).

Most people don’t realize but most employees are entitled to overtime. Under the FLSA you are either exempt or non-exempt. That means that if are either an employee exempt from receiving overtime pursuant to the FLSA or you are non-exempt and thus entitled to overtime. Employers usually try to classify an employee as exempt (and not pay the overtime) when in reality the employee is non-exempt and entitled to overtime.

To qualify as an exempt employee the employee generally must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 per week. It is the job duties that are critical in determining if an employee is exempt or not. The title of the employee does not really matter. It is the duties that matter. For example, are you considered an “executive” but you have no authority to hire or fire? This might mean that you are non-exempt and thus entitled to overtime. To see a more detailed explanation of the above, please go to http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa, which is the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s website.

So, even if you are paid as a salaried employee you still may be entitled to overtime. The Law Offices of Andrew S. Alitowski can help you decipher whether you should or should not be receiving overtime wages. As Kentucky Overtime Lawyers, the Law Offices of Andrew S. Alitowski can help you in any county in the State of Kentucky. We are very aware of all the tricks that an employer may use to not pay overtime.

Further, it does not matter if you have reported the overtime to a supervisor or not. If it is within 2 years from when you last worked at the job, you are still entitled to the overtime. And in some cases, you can even go back 3 years.

Also, if you don’t have your time-records, do not worry about. An employer is supposed to keep those. But, if he/she does not, then your word is usually good enough as long as your estimate is reasonable and accurate. And, if your employer tries to “average” the number of hours you worked for a two week period, so that it comes to 40 hours a week so as to not pay you overtime, that is illegal. If for example you work 35 hours one week and 45 hours the next week for 80 hours, you are still entitled to 5 hours of overtime for the week that you worked over 40 hours.

Finally, your employer cannot fire you for bringing an overtime claim. The FLSA has protective “retaliation” language in it so as to prevent this from occurring. If an employer does do that, he/she is then subject to fines or even criminal prosecution.

If you feel that you should be receiving overtime wages, please call your Kentucky overtime lawyers at the Law Offices of Andrew S. Alitowski at 888-ASK-ANDREW (275-2637). We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer any questions you may have.

If you are injured…Ask Andrew!!!