Misclassification as Exempt Law in Florida for Employees

The amount of pay that employees should be paid is set out in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This act also helps define exempt pay for employees who are non-exempt and those who are exempt. Exempt employees are not entitled to overtime pay as they are typically compensated via salary pay with possible commissions and bonuses stacked on top of it.

However, many employers incorrectly or knowingly misclassify staff as exempt so that they can avoid paying the overtime that is due to their team of workers. This is illegal, and employees who have not been paid correctly for hourly work and overtime hours can pursue their employer to secure the pay they should have been given. Working with the Lopez Law Group is essential if you have been misclassified by your employer in the state of Florida. Years of experience and attention to detail are essential to seek a favorable outcome for these cases.

How do You Know if You Have Been Improperly Classified?

It can be confusing for those who do not know about the FLSA laws to figure out if they are misclassified or not. Knowing more about how to identify misclassification can help workers to be sure that they should pursue legal action to rectify pay mistakes perpetrated against them. The team at Lopez Law Group will do a thorough investigation into your employment contract and payment history. Your lawyer will work hard on your behalf to ensure that you get the back pay that you are due and that your classification is corrected in a timely manner.

1.       Your Duties Involve Manual Labor

If you work on a manual labor job, you will almost always be paid hourly pay. The only staff at these kinds of companies who are paid a salary are administrative or office workers. Those who are performing the actual labor should be paid hourly. However, sometimes these staff members are also paid hourly, and they are told that they are not entitled to overtime pay due to being “salaried” employees.

These kinds of misconceptions can be a genuine mistake on the part of an employer, but in most cases, this is actually the result of an actual effort to avoid paying staff fairly and correctly. At the end of the day, if your hiring contract says that you are paid hourly pay, you are due overtime pay if you have worked beyond 40 hours in a week.

2.       You Are Paid an Hourly Wage

If you are paid an hourly wage on your paystubs, you are always entitled to overtime pay. This cannot be avoided, no matter what your employer says. You will not qualify as exempt from overtime pay if you are paid an hourly wage. This is the easiest way to judge if you are being paid incorrectly.

Simply looking at your most recent pay stub will tell you if you are paid an hourly wage or not. If you are, then you should be paid overtime wages for the time that you have worked beyond 40 hours in a week. An additional layer of complexity involved in the question of this kind of pay that can sometimes lead to misclassification are bonuses. Even if your employer chooses to pay a bonus to you and those with your job title, this does not make you exempt.

3.       You Have no Real Authority

Jobs where you do not supervise any other staff, or you are not involved in sales or other commission-based work efforts are almost always hourly jobs. Companies can choose to pay you a salary for this kind of work if they wish, but this is not typical.

Management and supervisor positions are almost always paid salary wages. You should be sure that you know what your job title is in order to check to see if you should be classified as exempt or not. Almost all job descriptions will indicate if you have responsibility over others or not. This information should be part of your hiring contract as well.

If you cannot hire or fire employees, you do not sign off on paystubs for other staff, or you do not guide or train anyone else in the office, you are not a manager or supervisor. Calling your job by this name does not make you an exempt employee.

4.       You Work Outside the Corporate Office

Just because you work outside the corporate office or location does not mean that you are exempt. There are a variety of classifications that can apply to staff that works remotely for businesses. If you are paid an hourly wage, but you work from home, you are still due wages for overtime hours. You should make sure that you check out the language in your hiring contract to see what it says. Many remote workers these days are paid hourly because the location has no bearing on whether or not you are considered an exempt employee.

You will need to be sure that you are actually being paid a salary per the terms of your hiring contract before you accept that you should not be paid overtime. There are instances where even salaried employees are not considered exempt, and working with a skilled lawyer to review your situation can be a big help.

Misclassification of Employees is Illegal

If you have been misclassified by your employer, you need to speak to a skilled lawyer right away. By law, you are owed back pay for the overtime hours that you have worked, and your employer will need to address the misclassification that is impacting your pay as well. The team at Lopez Law Group can help you to secure a favorable outcome for your case. The team has years of experience working on these kinds of cases.

Contact us today, and let us get started working on your case. Misclassification of employees in the state of Florida is illegal, and the team at Lopez Law Group can help you secure back pay and a change of your classification status.

See also:

• MINIMUM WAGE LAW IN FLORIDA FOR EMPLOYEES
• OVERTIME PAY CALCULATIONS LAW IN FLORIDA FOR EMPLOYEES