Most Florida employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek of at least one and one–half times their regular rates of pay. This basic rule of law is prescribed by the Fair Labor Standards Act. There are many exceptions to the rule. Legal disputes over the meaning and application of the exceptions are common. Other disputes include those fought over the employee's hourly rate of pay, and for what period of time and in what amount has the employee worked overtime hours. The statute of limitations for these claims is 2 or 3 years depending on the complicity of the employer in failing to properly pay overtime wages. The successful employee may be awarded attorney's fees by the court to be paid by the employer.

Important Information: 

• Rate of Overtime Pay: Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per workweek at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay.
• No Limit on Hours: There is no limit on the number of hours employees 16 years or older may work in any workweek.
• The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on weekends, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.
• Calculating Hours: Hours worked ordinarily include all the time during which an employee is required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty, or at a prescribed workplace.
• FLSA does not require:

1. vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay;
2. meal or rest periods, holidays off, or vacations;
3. premium pay for weekend or holiday work;
4. pay raises or fringe benefits; or
5. a discharge notice, reason for discharge, or immediate payment of final wages to terminated employees.

• Exemptions: Some employees are exempt from the overtime pay provisions or both the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions (e.g., executive, administrative, and professional employees, seamen engaged on foreign vessels, taxi drivers, etc.)
• Wrongful Termination/Discrimination: 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.

If you feel that you or someone you know has not been properly compensated for working overtime hours, please call or email us today to schedule a free confidential  consultation. Our law firm handles these cases on a contingent basis, which means that our clients incur no upfront costs or charges until we win the case.