Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are required to pay the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and for any hours worked over 40 they have to be pay their workers at time and a half. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) got back $304 million dollars in lost wages for 1.3 million people who performed work duties but were not paid the right amount of money. If you work as a nurse you might face long shifts and long weeks so if you believe that you are eligible, but not getting paid overtime this might be a form of wage theft.
Eligibility for Overtime
The most common wage theft occurs when you, as a nurse, work more hours than the hours expected for a standard work day or week, which is typically 40 hours. This could be working through lunchtime or working overtime for weeks on end and only finding you have been paid for 40 hours. .
Summary of Overtime Eligibility
Typically, if you are paid at an hourly rate you may be entitled to receive overtime pay, but the FLSA only applies to those hours worked over one week. Some states have their own set of overtime rules that may be relevant to your situation.
Generally, if you work 60 hours in any single week you are entitled to 20 hours at time and a half, the overtime rate. The working week doesn’t have to start and finish on a Monday but any day can be the starting day.
You should keep a record of your hours worked and what you were paid. Keep readable copies of timesheets to use as evidence if required.
Gathering Evidence of Eligibility
If you believe you have lost overtime due to wage theft you need to check your state’s rules for the payment of overtime. This applies to minimum hourly pay too as this varies depending on the state.
For example, California has a minimum wage of $11 per hour for an employer who hires less than 25 employees and $12 for 26+ employees. When it comes to overtime rates if you work more than 8 hours in a single day any hours over 8 are considered overtime.
If you have worked for more than 40 hours in a week you are entitled to overtime over 40 hours. However, in Arizona the minimum hourly rate is $11 per hour, but you get paid overtime after 40 hours in one week. There is no overtime rate applicable if you work, say, 2 days a week at 10 hours a day.
Determine Your Contract Status as a Nurse
Before you can file a complaint about wages theft you have to know your contract status. There is a difference in eligibility for overtime pay depending whether you are paid hourly or paid a salary.
Typically, workers who are paid for each hour they work are entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week. However, employees paid a salary cannot claim overtime if they work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week but if they work long hours, they often benefit from extra benefits provided by the employer.
So, if you are a registered nurse earning a salary of say $480 per week and you are registered with a state’s examining board you may not be eligible for overtime pay because your job falls under what is called a learned professional exemption. However, if you are paid by the hour you should be entitled to overtime rates as determined by your state or the FLSA if the state doesn’t have any laws of its own. If you believe you haven’t been paid overtime rates when eligible speak to an attorney to decide your next course of action.
What to Do When You Discover Unpaid Overtime
If you are sure you are missing pay due to non-payment of overtime you should first contact your HR in your workplace. If after a while you get no response you should start to gather evidence of your wage theft. This can include any of the following:
- your time sheets;
- your pay stubs;
- co- workers’ written evidence that you worked overtime.
You can use this evidence to file a complaint with the Wages and Hours Division of the Department of Labor. The FLSA gives the Department of Labor the authority to recover wages and liquidated damages on the employee’s behalf. If the employer has clearly violated the FLSA it may be issued with a penalty as well.
How an Attorney Can Help
An employment attorney is an expert in wages theft and can work on your behalf to recover your wages theft as a nurse and liquidated damages if you are eligible. Fill out the Free Case Evaluation today.
