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Employees are entitled to overtime pay in many legal systems, including the US. Before filing a lawsuit, employees should determine eligibility and may file a complaint with the Wage-Hour Division. Private lawsuits may also be an option, but come with costs and benefits.
In many legal systems, employees are entitled to receive additional pay for time spent working that is considered overtime. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1934 established the legal right to overtime pay for American workers. If an employer fails to comply with the requirements of the law, the employee can file an overtime lawsuit against the employer. Before filing a lawsuit, an employee must first determine whether she was entitled to overtime pay. If eligible, an employee may choose to file a complaint with the Wage-Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor or may choose to file a private overtime lawsuit against the employer.
Overtime pay rules can be confusing, so you need a clear understanding of an employee’s eligibility or ineligibility before proceeding with an overtime claim or lawsuit. Most hourly workers, and some employees, are entitled to overtime pay. Whether or not the hours worked count as overtime is another consideration. The Fair Labor Standards Act can be accessed via the US Department of Labor website for clarification.
Many employees who feel that they have not received overtime pay they claim choose to file a complaint with the Wage-Hour Division of the US Department of Labor. Filing a grievance does not preclude filing an overtime lawsuit, but it can resolve the issue without the need to file an official lawsuit. If it appears that there is a violation, an investigation will be opened on behalf of the employee. In many cases, the employee is able to obtain any pay due within a relatively short period of time by going through the Salary Division.
If the employer is uncooperative or argues that the employee is not owed any overtime compensation, another benefit of starting with a complaint through the Division of Hours Payroll is that they can choose to proceed with a lawsuit on your behalf. Working with the Wage-Hour division, there are no upfront costs incurred by the employee, such as legal fees. The downside is that the employee will have very limited control over the legal proceedings and recovery can be limited to any outstanding amounts owed.
An employee who is owed overtime pay may also choose to file a private overtime lawsuit. To do this, he has to hire a lawyer at his own expense. If the employer has systematically withheld overtime pay from all employees, a class action lawsuit may be an option. In such a case, the costs may be shared by the participants or the lawyer may not require an upfront fee at all. The benefits of filing a private lawsuit are that the employee will have more control over the proceedings and additional damages, such as attorney fees or punitive damages, may be ordered.
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