Wage and Overtime Claims

Generally, if an employee works more than a forty (40) hour work week, they are entitled to receive compensation for any time worked over forty (40) hours at one and a half times their normal hourly rate. When an employee is not properly paid, the employee may file suit, and if the employee prevails, the employee would be entitled to receive all their unpaid wages, their attorney’s fees and other damages called “liquidated damages,” which are damages in addition to the unpaid pages and are awarded under the guidelines of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

The FLSA contains a number of exemptions to the receipt of overtime compensation. While well written, it is common for employees and employers to mischaracterize the requirements of who is entitled to overtime compensation. Those classes of employees who are generally exempt from overtime include professional employees, executive, administrative, outside sales employees, computer employees and certain employees earning more than $100,000.00 per year.

There are certain types of errors that are more common than other errors in the failure to properly compensate an employee for hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week. These types of errors include:

• A company advising employees they do not pay overtime;
• Not looking at hours worked by the individual for each week during a year
• Failure to properly classify an employee’s job position for purposes of whether they are exempt from overtime compensation;
• Only believing hourly employees are entitled to overtime compensation;
• Failure to keep records of the time worked by an employee;
• Not including “off-the-clock” work; and
• Improperly classifying an employee as an independent contractor.

Other types of Wage Claims

Minimum Wage—an employee may also make a claim for failure of their employer to pay minimum wage rate. The Ohio Department of Commerce contains up-to-date information concerning the payment of minimum wages for tipped and non-tipped Ohio employees.

Prevailing Wage—Ohio law also requires public authorities to pay the workers on most of their construction projects the local “prevailing wage” As long as the cost of the public authority’s project exceeds a threshold amount (adjusted the first of January in every even-numbered year), and the type of project is not specifically exempted by law, the prevailing wage requirement is triggered.

Unpaid wages—there are additional causes of action available to employees who have not been paid wages due to them in a timely manner by their employer, namely, the semimonthly payment of wages under Ohio Revised Code Section 4113.15. Where wages remain unpaid for thirty days beyond the regularly scheduled payday or, in the case where no regularly scheduled payday is applicable, for sixty days beyond the filing by the employee of a claim or for sixty days beyond the date of the agreement, award, or other act making wages payable and no contest court order or dispute of any wage claim including the assertion of a counterclaim exists accounting for nonpayment, the employer, in addition, as liquidated damages, is liable to the employee in an amount equal to six per cent of the amount of the claim still unpaid and not in contest or disputed or two hundred dollars, whichever is greater.

On any of these matters Law Office of James. J. Collum, LLC would be happy to discuss your wage claim against your current or former employer. Because there are deadlines that must be met, please contact Law Office of James. J. Collum, LLC for a FREE CONSULTATION regarding any questions you may have regarding representing you in relation to a wage claim by calling (330) 494-4877 or by e-mail at jcollum@collumlawoffice.com.

Law Office of James. J. Collum, LLC are Ohio overtime attorneys, Ohio minimum wage attorneys, Ohio prevailing wage attorneys and Ohio FLSA attorneys who represents individuals and companies with their claims in cities all over Northeast Ohio including, but not limited to, the cities of Canton, Akron, Alliance, Canal Fulton, Massillon, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Fairlawn, Green, Macedonia, Munroe Falls, New Franklin, Norton, Stow, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, Kent, Ravenna, Streetsboro, Aurora, Brunswick, Medina, Rittman, Wadsworth, Dover, New Philadelphia, Uhrichsville, Orrville, Wooster, Columbiana, East Liverpool and Salem.