Florida has laws in place to ensure employees who do not receive an annual salary receive overtime when due. In Florida, overtime comes into effect when an employee works more than 40 hours in a single week, which counts as seven consecutive days.
Although many employees end up qualifying for overtime pay, which is a worker’s hourly wage multiplied by 1.5, many employers do not offer it. Some employers try to stiff workers entirely while others simply pay employees the standard wage.
Keep track of hours and inform the employer
Occasionally, a lack of overtime pay is simply an oversight. Employees should speak with their bosses initially to see if they can rectify the issue internally. If the boss is not compliant with providing the accurate pay rate, then the worker should write down the information instead of keeping it on a company computer. If the boss finds it, then he or she could eliminate it, and all proof goes away.
Contact the Department of Labor
Employers sometimes classify workers as on-call, volunteer or independent contractor. Under these classifications, a business owner does not have to pay overtime to people who work more than 40 hours a week. However, a person may genuinely work for a company as a full-time employee, not a freelancer. Employees can contact the Department of Laborby phone or email to fix the misclassification.
Contact an attorney
If all else fails, then the employee should get in touch with an employment lawyer. This is a good step particularly if other employees have not received overtime pay either. In these situations, the group of workers can file a class action lawsuit. In many cases, the workers can receive what they were due for overtime as well as extra compensation. Employees should not feel helpless to stand up for their rights, as action is possible.
