By law, New York employers are supposed to pay any employee, with some exceptions, overtime when they begin working more than 40 hours in any given week. However, according to a recent report, more employers are being sued by their employees because they were not paid for hours they worked overtime.
One of the many ways that numerous employers contrive to get out of paying their employees overtime is to make salaried employees think they do not qualify for such benefits. However, salaried employees who earn less than $455 weekly and who are not part of a particular exemption class have a right to receive overtime. Employers may also try to shift non-exempt duties onto exempt workers thinking that this will keep them from having to pay overtime. However, even exempt employees are eligible to receive overtime if they are doing non-exempt work.
Furthermore, some employers hire people to work as independent contractors while requiring them to work like employees. They may even require workers to perform work-related duties off the clock or attend meetings before or after work. In addition, some employers may ask workers to come in at a specific time but force them to wait before they clock in. However, these employees should expect payment for time spent waiting since they cannot leave the worksite. Even in situations where an employer allows workers to work willingly off the clock, the employer is still obliged to pay the worker overtime.
Employees who are involved in overtime disputes with their employers may retain an employment law attorney who could assist the worker in recovering their income through an overtime claim. If the case is successful, the employer may be required to compensate the employee for damages.
Source: AOL, “10 Tricks Employers Use To Cheat Workers Out Of Overtime“, Donna Ballman, July 11, 2012
