Unpaid Overtime Lawyer in Austin and Houston, Texas

When you work a long, stressful week, the last thing you want to see is that you’ve been shorted on your paycheck. The overtime hours you worked should be compensated for overtime pay. Instead, you see that you’ve only been paid your regular wages instead of time and a half, or that you have been denied overtime completely because you have been misclassified as a salaried exempt employee or an independent contractor. You deserve that denied overtime pay because you worked hard for it. If your employer failed to pay wages you were owed, you may have a valid unpaid wage claim. Contact an unpaid overtime lawyer in Austin and Houston, Texas at Leichter Law. To schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with us, please call our office at (512) 495-9995 today.

What Is Unpaid Overtime in Texas?

Federal law enforces the rule that qualifying employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek are eligible for overtime pay. If your employer fails to pay the overtime you are owed, this is referred to as unpaid overtime. In Texas, eligible employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek are entitled to at least 1.5 times their regular wages. Therefore, the minimum amount of hourly overtime pay someone can receive is $10.88 an hour. This is 1.5 times higher than the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour.

Labor laws that apply in Texas state that, if your employer fails to properly pay you an overtime wage, you may be able to file an unpaid overtime lawsuit for back pay and other damages. Employees are also protected from retaliation in the form of termination, suspension, demotions, or other adverse employment actions if they file an overtime complaint.

According to Texas wage and hour laws, the statute of limitations for filing an unpaid wages claim is two years. However, if your employer intentionally shorted you, that deadline extends to three years.

What Are Wage Theft, Unpaid Wages, and Overtime Compensation in Texas?

Along with unpaid overtime, many other terms come to light and often go hand in hand with unpaid overtime claims. Three of these terms are wage theft, unpaid wages, and overtime compensation.

Wage theft occurs when an employer fails to pay their employees according to federal or state law. Many forms of wage theft exist, including minimum wage violations, failing to pay overtime hours, stealing tips, or requiring employees to work off the clock. If you are a victim of wage theft, you have the right to file a claim against your employer for lost wages.

Unpaid wages are those that your employer owes you, but fails to pay you. Another term for this is a withheld salary. Unpaid wage claims can arise from a number of situations, including the following.

• Failure to pay overtime wages
• Failure to adhere to minimum wage laws
• Intentionally miscategorizing an employee to pay them less
• An employee is paid only a portion of their services
• Administrative errors
• Business expenses not being reimbursed
• Disputes about benefits or paid leave

Overtime compensation is calculated as 1.5 times your normal hourly rate of pay. Once you have worked 40 hours in a week, every hour worked after that should receive overtime pay. However, keep in mind that certain occupations are exempt from receiving overtime pay.

What Occupations Are Exempt from Overtime Pay in Texas?

According to federal law, most employees are entitled to overtime compensation. Rather than asking who qualifies for overtime, the easier question is about who does not qualify for overtime. As long as a nonexempt employee works over 40 hours in a workweek, they must receive overtime compensation at a rate of at least 1.5 times their regular pay.

In the following section, we provide a brief overview of exempt vs nonexempt employees in Texas.

Overview of Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Employees

The main difference between the two types of employees concerns overtime pay. Under the rules and regulations of the FLSA, exempt employees are not entitled to overtime pay. To be classified as exempt, you must meet any of the following requirements.

• You are in an administrative role in which you perform office work and have the authority to exercise your own judgment on important business matters. These employees must also make at least $684 per week to be exempt from overtime under the FLSA.
• You work in a computer role, such as computer programming, software engineering, or a similar position. Your primary responsibilities include systems analysis techniques, computer systems tasks, program tasks, or related tasks. Your position must not include manual labor, and you must earn at least $684 per week gross pay to be exempt. If you are compensated at an hourly rate, the rate must be no less than $27.63 an hour.
• You work in an executive role where you are responsible for managing the business, hiring and firing other employees, and other important decisions. To be exempt, you must also earn a salary of at least $684 per week.
• You work in an outside sales role in which you regularly work outside of the place of business. Your primary duties must include making sales or getting contracts or orders for the business. Minimum salaries do not apply in outside sales roles.
• You work in a professional role, such as accounting, engineering, teaching, biology, architecture, and or another professional role. Creative professionals include writers, actors, artists, musicians, and more. To be exempt, you must also earn a salary of at least $684 per week.

Be aware, just because you are paid a salary does not mean you are an exempt employee.

Employees who do not perform exempt duties are entitled to overtime pay even if they are paid a salary. Hourly employees are almost always entitled to overtime regardless of what jobs they perform. As a non-exempt employee, you are entitled to overtime pay for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Remember, overtime should be paid at no less than 1.5 times your regular hourly rate.

It is important to remember that overtime wage law as it relates to exempt and nonexempt employees can be incredibly complicated and in certain situations not always cut and dry. We pride ourselves in our ability to navigate complex scenarios in federal and Texas overtime wage laws and encourage you to contact us to learn if you have a valid case.

What Are Federal Overtime Laws?

Generally, federal labor and employment laws regarding overtime stem from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), enacted in 1938. The Act intended to create better working conditions for employees, establish a federal minimum wage, establish overtime pay, regulate child labor, and establish employer recordkeeping standards.

The Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal labor law that requires overtime pay for non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. Generally, all work hours over 40 in a workweek must be paid at a rate not less than 1.5 times the regular pay rate. If you have unpaid or underpaid overtime, you also have certain rights to rectify the underpayment.