Wage and Hour Litigation

Many employees are not paid what they are owed.  Studies show that failure to pay overtime, undercounting hours worked, and misclassifying workers as exempt or as independent contractors are widespread business practices and cost American workers tens of billions of dollars each year.  Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP represents current and former employees whose employers have failed to comply with state and/or federal laws governing minimum wage, hours worked, overtime, meal and rest breaks, and unreimbursed business expenses.

In particular, the firm focuses on claims against companies for (i) failing to properly classify their employees, or (ii) requiring employees to work “off-the-clock.”

For example, some companies misclassify their employees as exempt from the protections of applicable overtime laws and pay these individuals strictly on a “salary” basis.  Improperly classified employees, however, are entitled to overtime pay regardless of whether they are paid a salary.  Indeed, many salaried employees today are not truly exempt even though they are paid on a salaried basis.

As such, if your employer has classified you as a salaried employee but you do not:

● spend the majority of your working time supervising two or more employees; or
● have a job that specifically requires an advanced degree in a specialized field; or
● engage in a non-production, support function that makes major administrative policy decisions about the operations of the business,

then you may have a compensable “misclassification” claim and be entitled to overtime pay.

Other examples of wrongdoing involve employers requiring hourly paid employees to work “off-the-clock,” i.e., perform work-related tasks before or after the employee clocks in/out for the day.  Generally, employers must compensate employees for such work.  Therefore, if you:

● perform work-related tasks such as cleaning your work area or stocking shelves before/after clocking in/out for the day;
● work through your lunch break, especially when the lunch period is automatically deducted from your pay; or
● are required to work even though you are not clocked in or have already clocked out for the day,

then you may have a compensable “off-the-clock” claim.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP prosecutes alleged violations of wage and hour laws, including allegations of employee misclassification and “off-the-clock” work, on a contingent fee basis.  Accordingly, clients of the firm are not responsible for the firm's fees or costs associated with prosecuting wage and hour claims.