Overtime wages are an integral area of regulation within employment law and employee-employer relations. Overtime pay is defined as the wages for work officially ordered or approved in excess of eight hours per day or 40 hours per administrative week, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Fair Labor Standards Act
The U.S. Department of Labor regulates employment wage and hour disputes specifically. Most of the rules of overtime pay are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employees covered by the FLSA are required to receive pay for all work done in excess of 40 hours per work week at a rate of one and one half times their standard rate of pay. The FLSA does not require overtime for work done on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or other days of rest unless the overtime hours are actually worked on those days.
Exceptions to the FLSA rules exist for employees that are hired as bona fide outside sales, executives, administrative and other professionals under Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA. Exemptions are defined by job duties and other tests and are not regulated solely by job titles. Companies that do not follow the guidelines and regulations of minimum wage, overtime and other wage standards are subject to government fines and penalties in addition to employment law suits filed by the employees or other injured parties.
Hilton Agreement
The Dallas District Office of the Wage and Hours Division recently found that Hilton Reservations Worldwide violated the FLSA through a failure to properly compensate employees for work performed prior to the beginning of scheduled shifts. The specific work was done before the employees actually clocked in and included starting up computers and other hardware, opening software programs designed to assist the business' customers, and reading employment-specific emails. In addition to the actual FLSA violations, the investigation found that the company failed to keep proper records and bookkeeping on the wages and overtime pay.
Hilton Reservations Worldwide, LLC agreed to a settlement with its employees to the tune of $715,000. The payment will provide overtime wages and minimum wages to 2,645 former and present employees of the company in Florida, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Over 1,000 Tampa branch employees are entitled to share in a $213,314 payment.
The company is working with FLSA officials and regulators to fully comply with the rules. The ongoing process includes the payment of the settlement.
Overtime Wages and Other Employment Law Issues
Because overtime exemptions have tests and regulations within the U.S. Department of Labor and the FLSA, it's important to know the law and to have professional help in navigating any overtime and employment law issues. In addition, overtime pay is just one item that an employee may be owed. The best way to ensure that a company makes up for alleged FLSA violations is to hire an experienced employment law attorney.
