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Overtime Claims
Both federal and state law require employers to pay non-exempt employees at the rate of not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty hours in a workweek.
While overtime calculations are generally based on an employee’s regular payrate, where the employee’s regular payrate is less than the minimum wage, then the legal minimum wage rate is used towards calculating the one and on-half rate of pay. In this regards, the minimum wage in Illinois is currently $8.25 per hour for those individuals who are 18 years and older (those individuals under 18 years of age may be paid at the rate of $7.75 per hour).
An employer’s failure to pay wages due the employee can result in an employer being liable for not just the past due wages, but also liable for interest and penalties as well as liable for the employee’s reasonable attorney fees. This gives the employee much more leverage to receive the wages due him or her – and frequently I have been able to obtain such wages for the employee quickly, even without needing to file a lawsuit or administrative claim.
Alternatively, when the employer unreasonably refuses my particular written and verbal demands that the employer pay overtime, then litigation in federal or state court is frequently the direction to go, and I readily go in that direction when other methods do not prove fruitful.
- Is your employer refusing to pay you time and a half for working in excess of 40 hours per week, and instead just paying you straight time or not paying you at all for that time?
- Does your employer pay you overtime in the form of comp time at your regular rate rather than at the time and one half rate?
- Has the employer misclassified you as an exempt employee (i.e. – salaried and do not get paid overtime) when you should be a non-exempt employee?
If you believe that you are owed overtime pay then call me to briefly discuss if it makes sense for you to come in for an appointment to my Chicago loop office to further discuss your employment situation.
