Overtime
Information about wages is found in three places on the website. The reader may have to look in all three places to find all the information about the problem he or she has. This is because the wages of workers are protected by both federal and state law, not by one or the other. There are “LINKS” between the three places. (In addition, the views of the United States Department of Labor on the subject matter covered in this section can be viewed at http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/FOH/index.htm).
The places are:
1. Overtime (Federal) Private Sector. This is the basics of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
2. Overtime (Federal) Public Sector. This covers the ways that employees of government are treated by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
3. Unpaid Wages (State Law). This section explains various state laws that protect wages. It is further divided into “State Minimum Wage and Overtime Law” and “Timely Payment and Other State Wage Protection Laws.”
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) was passed in 1938. It is a Federal law that applies throughout the United States. Its purpose is to establish a minimum wage, and to deter employers from requiring employees to work more than 40 hours per week. This latter purpose is accomplished by requiring the payment 1–1/2 times the “regular rate” of pay for hours worked over 40 in any given week.
Fontaine Law Office works with this law on a daily basis. The office sees all varieties of workers: construction, sales, office, restaurants, medical, mechanics regularly. Its expertise and intimate knowledge allows the office to handle many case in a speedy manner, and to quickly advise those who have no case. Different rules apply to different occupations.
There are general Federal rules that apply to most occupations. These general rules are covered in sections 1 though 12 in the Summary of Law in this section. They show that it doesn’t matter how a worker is paid – hourly, salary, piecework: a worker is still entitled to overtime pay. The sections also show what hours you work counts as work time, what benefits must be counted as wages, and how to compute overtime pay.Section 13 in the Summary of Law lists Different Occupations. You may go directly to the occupation you are interested in Different Occupations. This will give you some helpful information. You can then return to section 1 through 12 to find more detail on the particular question you may have that concerns that occupation.
If Different Occupations does not contain the occupation that you are interested in, the chances are good that the general rules in sections 1 – 12 apply to the occupation you are concerned with.
Employees are also protected by many State wage and hour laws. Most states have such laws. Where a state law provides for greater protections than the federal law, the state law will be enforced. State laws have some protections for workers that the FLSA lacks. Where a worker’s rights are greater under State law, the State law is explained in another section. Go to Unpaid Wages to learn your rights under State law.