The federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") mandates that employers pay non-exempt employees overtime pay at the rate of 1 and ½ times their normal hourly wage for hours worked over 40 in a work week. Moreover, many states have wage/hour laws stating similar requirements. In addition, the FLSA, various state laws and now municipal ordinances have minimum wage provisions requiring that workers receive, at a minimum, $5.15 per hour. Some state and municipal laws now require more than the federal minimum wage. If you suspect that your employer has violated the FLSA or a similar state law, we can help. We have handled claims for individuals, small groups and class actions.

Types of FLSA violations

Employees who are covered under the FLSA and similar state laws are generally entitled to compensation for all time worked at 1 and ½ times their ordinary rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. As an example, an employee who is normally paid $20 per hour is entitled to $30 per hour for all time worked in excess of 40 hours in a week. It is the employer's responsibility, not the employee's, to accurately track hours worked. If hours worked have not been accurately tracked by the employer, a presumption in the law will favor the employee's testimony on the subject. The employer is responsible for compensating employees for all time worked, including overtime, even if the employer did not know that the employee was working overtime.

Typical violations of the FLSA that we have seen in our practice, include:

• Employers having employees work "off the clock;"
• Employers denying employees overtime pay when the overtime was not approved in advance;
• Paying employees their regular hourly rate for overtime work;
• Carrying over one week's overtime hours into a subsequent week or granting only "comp time" when the employer is not eligible to grant comp time;
• Using timekeeping methods that are inaccurate or that automatically "clock out" employees for lunch and break periods, regardless of whether the employees continue working for the clocked out time;
• Requiring employees to arrive early to perform necessary preparations for work, including putting on or removing special clothing and gear without paying them for it; and
• Altering employee's timesheets.

Mr. Shoemaker has over 15 years of experience as a trial attorney and is a partner in the law firm of Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein, L.C. ("PWHD"), based in Virginia.

Mr. Shoemaker, his partners and associates are available for representation nationwide. If you feel that you have been subjected to wage/hour and/or FLSA violations we encourage you to contact us online or call us, toll free, at 1-888-611-4599 or 757-223-4560. One of our paralegals will review the facts of your case with you and then Mr. Shoemaker will call you and discuss your case with you free of charge.

You may not be interested in considering a lawsuit. You may be more interested in getting advice on how to minimize damage to your career in the wake of suffering some adverse employment action. You may just want our services to review a severance or non-compete agreement or advice on how to maximize your chances of receiving unemployment benefits. We very often have clients call us for this type of advice. We welcome the opportunity to provide this service, but we must often charge for such services when the client is not interested in taking legal action. We charge very reasonable consultation rates for these services, and we can provide these consultations over the phone or at our office.