Who is Eligible to Receive Overtime Pay
It can be tricky to know who is going to get overtime pay and who simply isn’t eligible. This is what your employer is booking on though. Many employers know that the laws regarding overtime pay are complicated and many people don’t have the knowledge or the experience to handle them.
That is where a lawyer can help you through this process. If you suspect that you aren’t getting paid overtime and you are eligible then talking to a lawyer is often in your best interest. They can help you recover your earned wages for your overtime.
Who is Eligible?
Not all employees have the right to overtime pay. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) categorizes employees as either exempt or nonexempt.
Nonexempt Employees
No matter how highly paid a nonexempt employee is they are entitled to overtime pay for more than 40 hours worked in a workweek. Here are the following types of manual laborers and other blue-collar workers who are non-exempt employees:
- Carpenters
- Craftsmen
- Construction Workers
- Electricians
- Ironworkers
- Longshoremen
- Mechanics
- Plumbers
- Operating Engineers
You might notice that many of these jobs are physically demanding. These jobs require repetitive operations with their hands, physical skills, and energy to do their job. First responders, including police, firefighters, and paramedics are also nonexempt employees. If you have questions about if you qualify as one then don’t hesitate to reach out to a lawyer
Exempt Employees
Exempt employees are not eligible to receive overtime pay. Many of these workers have to meet minimum salary requirements and perform certain job duties while others are exempt based on their industry type. An example of this is executive, administrative, and procession workers are exempt if they earn at least $684 a week or $35,568 a year. Here are the workers who are exempt from overtime pay:
- Computer Employees
- Outside salespersons
- Agriculture workers
- Seasonal workers
- Certain caretakes
- Certain retail workers
- Service workers who earn a commission
There are many additional qualifications for each employee listened and many more types of exempt workers. If you aren’t sure if you fall into this category then reach out to a lawyer ot learn more. This means that even if you earn a salary or hourly wage, your employer must pay you your overtime unless you are exempt.
Independent Contractors
Only employees can receive overtime pay. Many employers will label a worker as an independent contractor to avoid paying overtime. An independent contractor can only decide and direct the final result of the work. If you are deciding when, where or how the work will be done then you are most likely an employee and not an independent contractor.
Don’t let your employer take advantage of the complex laws and not pay you overtime. We know it can get frustrating and that is why talking to an overtime lawyer like our friends at Disparti Law Group, is often a great place to start learning more.
