Could you be entitled to overtime pay? - VLF Video Educational Series
Are you entitled to overtime? Most employees are entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week. What if you do work 40 hours a week, but your employer still denies overtime? Employers can classify employees as "exempt." Find out if you could be entitled to overtime based on your classification. Did you know it's the employer's responsibility to keep track of employee records? Charles Vethan: Hi, I'm Charles Vethan. I'm here with... Joseph Colvin: Joseph Colvin. Charles: This is part of the overtime-legal video blog series. Today's topic is are you entitled to overtime? Joseph, when would someone be entitled overtime? Joseph: Most employees are entitled to overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a week. Charles: Well, what if their employers say no? Joseph: Well, oftentimes employers classify employees as exempt. They say they are administrative employees or they are executive employees and oftentimes that's not true. Charles: Are these some of the excuses employers give their employees for not paying overtime? Joseph: Yes, and one of the more common excuses, "You're not entitled to overtime because you're being paid a salary." Charles: Wait a second. If you're paying salary, are you entitled to overtime? Joseph: It is a very good chance you've been entitled overtime. Charles: It depends on the position. Is that fair? Joseph: Absolutely. Charles: What are some other excuses employers give their employees for not paying overtime? Joseph: One of other more common excuses is being called not in reality but being titled as a supervisor or a manager. Charles: Well, if you are called a manager, does that necessarily mean that you are entitled to overtime or not entitled to overtime? Joseph: Again, it's going to depend on what you actually do as part of your job. Your job title does not decide, whether or not you're entitled to overtime. Joseph: Okay, what are some of the other excuses? We talked about exempt employees, we've talked about supervisors/managers and we've talked about salaried employees for maybe entitled overtime. What are some other excuses? Joseph: One of the most common ones is qualifying folks as independent contractors rather than employees and saying that as such they are not entitled to overtime. Charles: What's wrong with being an independent contractor? Joseph: There's nothing wrong with being an independent contractor. However, most of the folks being called independent contractors are actually just employees and most likely entitled to overtime. Charles: As an employer classifies someone as an independent contractor that employer doesn't have to pay that person withholding and they actually save money by not paying those required withholding and taxes, correct? Joseph: Yes, and overtime. In reality, they are taking money out of their own employee's pockets and putting in their own. Joseph: Joseph, one more excuse we've been seeing lately is that of the day rate employee. Explain to our friends what a day rate is. Joseph: Sometimes you'll see employees who are paid on a work basis for a day. If they work ten hours, if they work four hours they get the same pay. Now, the problem is these employees if they're working over 40 hours aren't being paid overtime. The law provides for a method under which overtime needs to be calculated. Charles: Are day rate employees entitled to overtime? Joseph: Yes. Charles: Now, a lot of our friends, a lot of our clients have come to us, they come to us and they say, "I don't have copies of my time records." Whose responsibility is it to maintain those records? Joseph: Under the law, it's the absolute responsibility of the employer, not the employee, to maintain accurate time records. Charles: You said accurate time records. What happens if the employer creates the employee's records? Joseph: It's another unfortunate common scheme we see. An employer requires his employees to sign up on time sheets that don't reflect their actual time. Charles: Well, Joseph I think the message from today is to make sure that our friends who may be concerned that they're not getting paid overtime, perhaps they need to visit us at overtime-legal.com or call us to find out if you're entitled to overtime.
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Vethan Law Firm
