Wages & Overtime Pay

Every employee is entitled to a day’s pay for a day’s work. Federal and state laws establish both minimum wage requirements and overtime requirements. However, minimum wage and overtime requirements generally apply only to employees who are paid by the hour. There are many rules and regulations which govern whether an employee is “exempt” or “non-exempt” and even more rules and regulations which govern what time is considered compensable and counts toward the forty-hour workweek. For example, a meal period of thirty minutes or more may be unpaid and does not count towards hours worked for overtime if the employee is free to leave the workplace and attend to personal matters. However, the same meal period may have to be compensated and counted towards hours worked if the employee is not permitted to leave the workplace and remains “on call” to attend to issues that may arise. Wage and overtime cases are very fact specific.

An employer may violate the law if it incorrectly classifies a position as exempt and fails to pay the minimum wage and time-and-a-half for all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in one workweek (7 days). An employer may also violate the law if it incorrectly excludes compensable hours or makes unlawful deductions. An employer may not retaliate against or discharge an employee who questions his or her classification or pay.

If you have questions about whether you are being paid correctly, please contact us or give us a call at (215) 493-8287 for a free consultation. Mr. Scott Fegley will personally discuss your situation with you by telephone or email and will tell you whether you may be owed additional wages.