Salary Overtime Law: Can You Sue Your Boss For Making You Answer Late Night Emails?
By Thomas Ricotta on June 16th, 2015 in In The News
With the advent of company-issued smartphones that, unfortunately, give companies access to their employees 24-7, the line between the workday and off-hours has definitely become blurred. Easy electronic access to business due to the common use of BlackBerrys, iPhones, and other hand-held devices is disrupting home-life and raising legal issues. A small number of lawsuits have been filed alleging companies expect employees to work unpaid during off-hours, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. Sympathetic judges, paired with upcoming changes to federal labor regulations, may open the floodgates for more claims.
If you or someone you know believes an employer owes overtime pay, contact an experienced and aggressive salary overtime law attorney right away to preserve your rights under the law.
Drawing the Line
Separate claims were filed by Chicago police officers and DirectSat USA satellite-dish installers, seeking compensation for time spent outside of regular work hours to download working orders and respond to work-related emails. Should the lawsuits have favorable results for the employees, companies across the nation may likely have to take another look at how off-duty work is managed. Plaintiff-friendly rulings could also encourage class-action lawsuits.
Beyond the courtroom, it has been reported that the Department of Labor (DOL) is expected to roll out new policies by the end of 2015 expanding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – the federal law that requires payment of overtime and sets a minimum wage – to cover working Americans who earned too much for protection under current regulations.
Often employers are implicitly expecting workers to be available after-hours, while not paying for the extra time involved. Under FLSA, certain employees are “exempt” from overtime laws. According to the FLSA’s 2004 regulations, for salaried employees making less than $24,000 annually, overtime pay was required by the act. In 2014, President Obama asked the DOL to update the regulations, including the salary floor. Many expect the increase salary requirement will bring about several overtime class-action lawsuits.
Salary Overtime Law Attorneys
If you believe that you may have been taken advantage of by an employer, partnering with an experienced salary overtime law attorney may help you regain the compensation owed. As technology advances, so does the expectation to respond immediately whether it relates to personal or business matters. For the latter, however, there are rules and regulations requiring employers to pay for overtime work depending on the circumstance. If you believe you have been denied overtime pay, or have other questions, contact the experienced salary overtime law attorneys at Ricotta & Marks, P.C. today at (347) 464-8694 for your free initial case evaluation.