Unpaid Overtime & Wages

Our Wage and Hour Lawyers handle employment and wage cases across Tennessee and the country. Our cases range from single person claims to large class actions. There is no fee charged for overtime cases unless we recover money for our clients. Contact us today for a free and confidential case review.

Many businesses and employers find ways around paying their employees the wages or overtime pay that they are entitled to under state and federal law. Some of these ways may include but are not limited to:

• Misclassification as an exempt worker- many employers may misclassify their employees as having an executive or administrative role which would make them exempt from overtime pay according to the federal law. Employers may also classify certain employees as independent contractors which mean that they are self-employed and would be exempt from overtime pay requirements. Often many employees are misclassified as being exempt from overtime pay so that employers can avoid paying them for overtime hours worked and instead pay a set salary regardless of the hours.
• Not paying an employee the minimum wage- Federal and state laws have a certain amount of minimum wage that employees are entitled to. However, many employees especially those that receive tips are often paid below this minimum wage amount. Another situation where tipped employees may not be paid properly is if the business has tipped employees pool their tips with employees that do not usually receive tips. This means that the tipped employees may not receive all the tips that they are owed so then their take home pay is below minimum wage.
• Failure to pay for all hours that a worker is actually working- Any time that you spend doing work for your employer should be time that you receive pay. Even if it is work such as: checking emails, being on call, turning on equipment, cleaning equipment, doing work during your lunch break, going to meetings or training, and taking short five to twenty minute breaks.
• Using an average of hours worked in a two week time period- If you were to work thirty hours one week and fifty the next week, sometimes employers will average it out so that you worked forty hours for each week. This way they will not have to pay you for any overtime.
• Giving workers time for vacation or sick leave instead of overtime pay
• Paying workers half-time instead of their full overtime pay- This can happen if a employer or boss only paid you one-half of your hourly pay for any hours you work over forty, which means you are not actually getting the overtime pay you deserve.

Many workers are often misclassified as being exempt from fair wages or overtime pay because of their job title. However, your job title is not what matters. The work that you actually do is what matters for fair pay and overtime pay requirements. Some of the workers that are usually subject to more violations include but are not limited to:

• IT specialists
• Workers that repair equipment
• Workers that install equipment
• Salespeople
• People that work in the medical or healthcare field
• Workers that receive tips
• Employees that work with oil or gas
• Customer service workers
• Workers that are in retail
• Employees that work in a bank or handle mortgages

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) a worker denied overtime can seek all back wages, double damages and attorney’s fees. We will review your case for free to determine if you are entitled to these damages. If you or someone you work with feels that you have been denied your overtime pay or fair wage, we encourage you to contact one of our caring and experienced Tennessee overtime pay attorneys with the Higgins Firm. We care about our clients and will work with you to see to it that you receive the compensation that is rightfully yours by law.