Rochester Overtime Claims Lawyer
Overtime requirements in New York are included in the New York State’s Minimum Wage Order and in the federal Fair Wages Standards Act. With a standard work week of 40 hours per week, the laws require overtime pay at 1.5 times an employee’s regular pay rate for all hours an employee works over 40 hours. Employees deserve this compensation for the extra hours they put in for their employers. Unfortunately, not all employers are fair or diligent about adhering to the law when it comes to paying the required overtime rate, and in some cases may purposely or accidentally miscalculate overtime pay for years.
If you are owed unpaid or underpaid overtime in New York, the lawyers at Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC, in Rochester are ready to help you finally receive all the wages you’re owed, and in many cases, interest, penalties, and monetary damages. Contact our skilled legal team with decades of experience in New York employment law for the help you need through individual claims or class-action lawsuits.
Understanding Overtime Laws in New York
Employees who earn a wage in New York must receive 1.5 times their normal pay rate for any hours over 40 that they work per week, and their regular pay rate must be at least minimum wage. Salaried employees can calculate their pay by dividing their weekly pay rate by the total amount of hours they work per week.
Employers have exemptions from mandatory overtime pay for certain employees, including executives, those working in administrative positions, creative professionals, certain categories of computer workers, and outside salespeople.
Unfortunately, some employers find ways to underpay for overtime or to avoid paying the overtime rate altogether. Some ways that employers might attempt to avoid overtime wages include the following:
- Calling you a salaried employee only when you work over 40 hours in a week
- Misclassifying you as an exempt employee
- Withhold commissions when you work overtime
- Mislabeling you as an exempt computer IT employee (this exemption applies only to programmers, software engineers, and systems analysts)
- Misclassifying you as an independent contractor
If you are not an exempt employee and your employer used any of these, or other methods, to justify not paying you the overtime pay you are entitled to under the law, you may have a case for an overtime claim.
Contact our office in Rochester if you believe your employer has misused exemption labels or used other illegitimate excuses for avoiding paying you the overtime that you’re owed.
Why Choose Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC, for Your Overtime Claim?
The legal team at our Rochester office has over five decades of combined experience and successful litigation in all areas of employment law in the Central New York area and all of New York State. We are dedicated to offering individualized attention to make sure you receive the compensation you’re due for unpaid or underpaid overtime claims.
If you believe your employer has unethically used unlawful means to avoid paying you overtime, our team of experienced professionals stands ready to aggressively argue for your case, even up against powerful employers.