Cases We Handle

Our Austin nurse overtime claims lawyers at Leichter Law Firm PC know all too well that some employers are skilled at casually breaking the law. Since they are the employer, they do not expect legal repercussions from an employee for discrimination or withholding of overtime wages. Our experienced legal team can help you hold your employer accountable for not paying the required overtime pay for nurses. Listed below are some overtime violations that we address.

Common overtime violations include:

Nursing Homes, Hospitals, and Assisted Living Centers:

• Requiring work off the clock.
• Automatic time deduction for meals when the employee does not receive an uninterrupted meal period.
• Working or preparing for a shift before the shift begins.
• Completing job duties and patient care after the shift ends.
• Completing charts and notes after the shift ends.
• Unpaid meetings, training, and seminars.

Home Health Agencies:

• Fixed rate per visit without an increase for hours over 40 in a week.
• Failure to pay for travel time between visits.
• Unpaid meetings, training, and seminars.
• Failure to pay for charting at home or after hours.

Other common violations:

• Misclassifying employees as exempt employees merely because they are paid a salary. Just because an employee receives a salary does not mean they are not entitled to overtime pay.
• Misclassifying LVNs and LPNs as exempt professional employees. These nurses do not qualify as exempt professional and are almost always entitled to overtime pay.
• Misclassifying RNs as exempt professional employees when they are not working in a clinical setting. For example, RNs working as Medical Coders and Utilization Review Nurses are often entitled to overtime pay, even if they receive a salary.
• Misclassifying nurses as “Independent Contractors.” Nurses working through medical staffing companies are often labeled as contractors or 1099 employees and receive the same hourly rate for all hours worked, even those over 40 in a workweek. Even so-called contract workers are often entitled to overtime pay.

If you have worked as a nurse and have worked more than 40 hours per week without receiving additional compensation for overtime, then you need to speak with a qualified overtime attorney today. Our Board Certified Employment Law Specialist and may be able to help you recover up to three years of overtime back payments. Call Leichter Law Firm PC at 1-833-OT-WAGES to learn more.

U.S. Department of Labor – Nurse Overtime Pay Facts

The U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) mission is clear – “to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce.”

According to the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, the information below is specific to nurses:

“The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hour worked and overtime pay at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. However, individual sections of the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for certain employees in administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer jobs. To qualify for an exemption, employees must meet specific tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 per week.

For nurses to qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:

• The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week;
• The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment;
• The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and
• The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

Registered nurses who are paid on an hourly basis should receive overtime pay. However, registered nurses who are registered by the appropriate State examining board meet the duties requirements for the learned professional exemption, and if paid on a salary basis of at least $455 per week, may be classified as exempt.

Licensed practical nurses and other similar health care employees, however, generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals, regardless of work experience and training, because possession of a specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into such occupations, and are entitled to overtime pay.”

Contact a Nurses Overtime Attorney

If you believe that your employer failed to pay you for overtime that you worked and are owed, contact our Austin overtime nurse claims attorneys, and we will fight aggressively to make sure that they pay you for the time that you put in. You can complete our online form, chat live, or call us at 1-833-OT-WAGES to get the justice you deserve.