Proving Your Right to Overtime Pay

Fair Labor Standards Act

Minimum wage and overtime labor laws require employers to keep track of all hours worked by their employees. However, many employers either don’t track their employees’ hours or do not track the type of work being performed.

In an effort to simplify their payroll process, some employers simply pay their workers based on the number of hours each employee is scheduled. Schedule pay is very common and usually results in workers being underpaid. Employees are often afraid to inform their boss when they work more than the scheduled time, because they fear retaliation or don’t want to cause trouble. But, if you are fired or your hours are reduced because you requested minimum wages or overtime pay, you could have a separate claim for retaliation in addition to any claims for minimum wages or overtime pay.

Salaried workers are typically always paid the same amount each week, but employers often do not keep track of the type of work that they are performing. If a salaried worker is doing the job of a regular hourly employee because of understaffing, he or she may actually be owed overtime pay for any overtime hours over forty in a week.

Keeping a journal, taking notes or using the GPS navigation within many cellphones could be the best first step to getting paid overtime. Take a moment during a break to jot down notes about what you worked on and when you did it. If you write down when you get to work and when you leave and take short notes during the day about the jobs you are doing, you will make it much easier to ensure that you are paid overtime.

Contact an experienced employment law attorney in Kansas City today.