Overtime – Right to Collect Unpaid Wages via FLSA.
Recently, in May of 2010, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio heard a case regarding unpaid overtime wages for twenty-four Plaintiffs. (See Baden-Winterwood v. Life time Fitness, Inc., 2010 WL 1882261 (S.D.Ohio). In Baden-Winterwood, one Plaintiff, Ms. Seals, had her case remanded to determine whether her overtime case met the salary level test. Id. “Under the salary level test … employees must be paid a minimum of $455 per week or $23,660 per year to qualify for the exemption from overtime pay.” Id. Ms. Seals was only paid $231/week. Id. Based on this fact, Ms. Seals was not an exempt employee and was misclassified as an overtime-exempt employee. Id.
In Ms. Seals’ instance, she did not work overtime, but the Court held, that she was at least entitled to the pay for the hours she worked over the twenty hours per week for which she was not paid. Id. The Court also had to determine the exact amount of time that Plaintiff was entitled to her unpaid wages. An employee is entitled to paid for every hour worked for an employer.
Further, Defendant makes an argument that Plaintiff was not entitled to the unpaid wages because she made no claim for unpaid wages but only for overtime wages. Id. This, the Court stated was clearly wrong. In Plaintiff’s complaint it states “this is an action … for unpaid wages and overtime pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act…” (cites omitted). Id. Thus, the Court stated that Ms. Seals was entitled to unpaid wages. Id.
Also, as Plaintiff correctly points out, “the FLSA requires that all hours worked must be compensated.” (cites omitted). Id. “Congress enacted the FLSA to guarantee either regular or overtime compensation for all actual work or employment.” (cites omitted). Id.
Thus, if you believe you are not getting paid for hours that you worked or for overtime in Louisville, Kentucky, and if you think that there are other workers like you in a similar situation, you should call and speak to a Louisville overtime lawyer to see if you are entitled to this back pay and/or overtime.
If you have been the subject of Louisville Overtime or Unpaid Wages for some type of mandatory meeting, please call and speak to a Louisville overtime or unpaid wages lawyer at the Law Offices of Andrew S. Alitowski at 888-ASK-ANDREW (275-2637) or contact us online. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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