Department of Labor. Where they find violations, they also may recommend changes in employment practices to bring an employer into compliance. It is a violation to fire or in any other manner discriminate against an employee for filing a complaint or for participating in a legal proceeding under FLSA.
A second conviction may result in imprisonment. The FLSA makes it illegal to ship goods in interstate commerce which are produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, or special minimum wage provisions. There are several different methods for recovering unpaid wages; each method has different remedies. The Secretary of Labor may bring suit for back wages and an additional penalty, called "liquidated damages," which can be equal to the back pay award essentially doubling the damages if an employer willfully violated the statute.
An employee may file a private lawsuit for back pay and an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus attorney's fees and court costs. An employee may not bring a lawsuit if he or she has been paid back wages under the supervision of WHD or if the Secretary of Labor has already filed suit to recover the wages.
The Secretary of Labor may obtain an injunction to restrain any person from violating FLSA, including the unlawful withholding of proper minimum wage and overtime pay.
Your state law may have different methods for recovery of unpaid wages, and different remedies to be awarded to those who succeed in proving a violation. To file a complaint for unpaid wages under the FLSA, you may either go to the Wage-Hour Division, which may pursue a complaint on your behalf or file your own lawsuit in court which may require you to hire an attorney. There are strict time limits within which you must file charges of unpaid wages.
To preserve your claim under federal law, you must file a lawsuit in court within two years of the violation for which you are claiming back wages, except in the case of an employer's willful violation, in which case a three-year statute applies. However, as you might have other legal claims with shorter deadlines, do not wait to file your claim until your time limit is close to expiring.
It may be helpful to consult with an attorney before filing your claim, but it is not necessary to have an attorney to file your claim with the state and federal administrative agencies. Your state labor standards law may have different deadlines for recovery of unpaid wages or comp time. For further information, select your state from the map below or this list.
The Workplace Fairness Attorney Directory features lawyers from across the United States who primarily represent workers in employment cases. Please note that Workplace Fairness does not operate a lawyer referral service and does not provide legal advice, and that Workplace Fairness is not responsible for any advice that you receive from anyone, attorney or non-attorney, you may contact from this site.
Find an Employment Attorney. Home Blog Comp time vs. Subscribe When you are ready to subscribe click here. Sign in with Sign in with. Compensatory time: Commonly referred to as comp time, this is paid time off given to an employee in lieu of overtime pay.
Understanding state law The legal requirements of each state also factor into what options might be available to you as an employee or as the employer. Offer flexibility in work schedules There are ways for you to both clear the legal hurdles and provide your employees with options that give them the freedom to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
Define your rules and stick to them Though often popular with employees, there are potential shortcomings for the government agencies able to offer comp time. Downsides of comp time include: If comp time is offered regularly, employees may come to expect it every time they work overtime. It can lead to wage and hour claims and disputes over whether employees are truly exempt or non-exempt.
Some employees may take advantage of the offering and work overtime unnecessarily so they can get a day off in the future. If an employee has saved up a lot of comp time and then leaves the company, do you need to pay for those banked hours? The takeaway Your leadership team needs to ensure that a clear and concise policy is in place outlining the attendance expectations of their employees. Leave a comment.
What is comp time, exactly? Compensatory time refers to the practice of compensating employees with paid time off PTO rather than overtime pay for hours worked above 40 in a workweek.
Let's take Tim as an example. Tim works in a grocery store, and it was a particularly busy week as people were gearing up for a three-day weekend. Tim worked an extra 10 hours that week. Instead of getting monetary compensation for those overtime hours , Tim would like paid time off to complete some personal errands.
To calculate how much paid time off Tim is owed, you would multiply 10 hours by 1. Essentially, Tim will receive nearly two full days off — which he will be paid for — to use as he pleases. But can you do that in all cases and for all types of employees? The answer is no. There are specific situations in which you can use comp time.
Let's take a look at when you can use comp time, and some important considerations you'll need to keep in mind. It covers terms like hours worked, minimum wage, and overtime pay, among others. The FLSA also sets the boundaries for using compensatory time off instead of overtime.
The use of comp time is also regulated on the state level , with rules diverging between states. The FLSA regulates the handling of wages and hours for non-exempt employees. They are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay. Typically, they are paid by the hour, but may also be salaried employees. Being non-exempt rather depends on the exact duties of the person.
Often, workers in construction, maintenance and services are considered non-exempt. According to the FLSA, compensatory time off is not legal for non-exempt employees working at private companies.
Can he do this? It depends. Are you exempt from the FLSA or nonexempt? Will I have to save all my vacation days to cover the time the university is closed at Christmas break?
Any working hours that the university is closed during the Christmas break that is not covered by the state authorized holidays and postponed state authorized holidays, may be covered by either compensatory time overtime earned during previous periods or vacation leave. Who is eligible to earn comp time to cover this period of university closure? All Employees. Normally only non-exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act — FLSA employees are eligible to earn compensatory time, but exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act — FLSA employees may be allowed to earn compensatory time for special circumstances and not change their status as exempt employees.
If I can earn comp time to cover the days which the University is closed, does that mean I am considered a non-exempt employee? The Fair Labor Standards Act permits a special circumstance exception for those who, under normal circumstances, do not earn compensatory time for any overtime worked.
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