Toledo Unpaid Wages Lawyer

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a law that established the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping, and youth employment standards in the private and public (federal, state, and local) sectors.

The following wage and hour issues are covered by FLSA and Ohio law:

Wage and Hour Issues

Unpaid Overtime

Under FLSA and Ohio law, employees who work over 40 hours a week are entitled to overtime compensation at 1.5 times the normal hourly rate for the extra hours worked, unless they are exempt employees.

When overtime compensation is denied, employees may be entitled to receive their unpaid overtime wages (for up to 3 years worth of unpaid overtime wages), liquidated damages, and attorney fees.

To ensure you receive the amount you are owed, be sure to accurately record and report your hours, possibly recording them in multiple ways: clocking in and out, writing hours, etc. In the case a supervisor instructs you to not report hours worked after 40 hours, records them anyways, as this may be a violation of FLSA.

Misclassification of Exempt Employee

Salaried employees are often told they do not receive overtime pay and are considered exempt workers. This is a common misconception and is not always true. If your employer has told you you are an exempt worker, this still may not be true, as they cannot unilaterally tell you whether or not you are exempt.

To be an exempt employee under FLSA, you must:

• Be paid a minimum of $23,600 per year ($455 per week);
• Be paid on a salaried basis; and
• Perform exempt job duties.

Even though FLSA says exempt employees are salaried, there are exceptions to the rule, particularly when taking job duties into account. The definition of exempt job duties is complex and technical and is best determined with the assistance of a Toledo unpaid wages lawyer.

Tipped Employees

According to FLSA, a tipped employee is an employee that regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips.

Per FLSA, employers of tipped employees are required to pay $2.13 per hour as a direct wage, as long as that amount combined with tips is at least equal to the minimum wage ($7.25 per hour at the federal level). In cases where an employee’s tips and direct wages are not equal to the federal minimum wage, employers are required to make up the difference. That difference is called a tip credit.

In order for employers to claim tip credits, tipped employees are required to:

• Receive at least $30 in tips per month;
• Be paid at least $2.13 per hour;
• Retain all tips; and
• Be given notice in advance of their employer’s use of tip credit provisions.

Tip credit notices are required to include the following:

• The amount of cash wage tipped employees are receiving;
• The additional amount the employer claims (which cannot exceed $5.12, the difference between cash and federal minimum wages)
• Information stating the tip credit claimed by the employer does not exceed the amount of tips employees receive;
• A statement that all tips received by tipped employees are retained by the employee, with the exception of a tip pooling arrangement; and
• A statement that tip credit does not apply to tipped employees unless they have been informed of tip credit provisions.

Failure to give notice to employees of intent to take tip credit results in tip crediting not being claimed, regardless of employees suffering economic harm as a result. Employers can lose tip credit for several reasons: managers and owners taking part of the tips, or forcing tipped employees to share their tips with non-tipped employees.

Off-the-Clock Hours

Under FLSA and Ohio law, employees must at least be paid minimum wage for every hour worked. This means anytime spent working on behalf of your employer is compensable time.

A few examples of off-the-clock hour work include:

• Setting up and working before the start of a shift or cleaning and working after the shift is over (before or after you are on the clock)
• Working through meal breaks
• Required pre-shift meetings without pay
• Working remotely at the employer’s request
• Travel time
• Being on call
• Being required to email, read, or respond to work emails, calls, or messages

Contact a Toledo Unpaid Wages Lawyer

If you have experienced any of the above situations in your workplace, contact a Toledo unpaid wages lawyer at Bryant Legal, LLC. We’ll talk with you and determine whether you have a solid case; from there, we’ll create a plan to take and make sure you receive proper financial compensation. Call our Toledo office at 419-824-4439, email attorney Matthew Bryant at mbryant@bryantlegalllc.com, or fill out our contact form.