Is it illegal to not pay someone overtime?

It is illegal to not pay overtime to hourly, or non-exempt, employees if they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. These employees are legally owed 1.5x their regular rate of pay for any overtime hours worked, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

How can companies avoid paying overtime?

The 5 Most Common Ways Employers Avoid Paying Overtime Rates It involves asking an employee to do preparatory work, prior to starting their shift, or to perform other functions. The employee may be asked to clean a work area, answer telephones, or perform other tasks.

What is unpaid overtime?

Unpaid overtime is money an employee earned by working more than 40 hours in a week that their employer didn’t pay. Unpaid overtime is a form of wage theft. Employers must pay their employees for all hours worked — at the appropriate rate of pay.

Can my employer force me to work without pay?

Employers in the United States must pay employees for all hours worked and cannot force workers to labor without receiving minimum compensation set by federal or state law. An employer cannot sanction, discriminate against or fire an employee for not working without pay.

What is your responsibility to ensure that you are being paid for all hours worked?

Nonexempt employees must be paid for all hours worked in a workweek. Also included is any additional time the employee is “suffered or permitted” to work. The FLSA requires employers to pay for hours actually worked, but there is no requirement for payment of holidays, vacation, sick or personal time.

What are unpaid hours?

Pay. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as an hourly employee you receive a standard rate of pay for the first 40 hours that you work during a single work week. If your employer does not pay you for certain hours during your regular work week, then those hours are recorded as being “unpaid.”

Do restaurants have to pay overtime pay?

The law is clear: Restaurants must pay their employees overtime pay for working more than 40 hours a week. Unless classified as an exempt (aka salaried) employee, employees are entitled to receive overtime pay “at a rate not less than time and one-half” your normal rate of pay, according to the Department of Labor.

Are Massachusetts restaurant workers entitled to overtime?

Handling a credit-card transaction counts as interstate commerce. So a lot of Massachusetts restaurant workers are entitled to overtime, just by virtue of working for large restaurants or by processing credit-card payments. There are some industry-specific exceptions to overtime laws that affect certain employers.

Do exempt employees get paid for overtime?

Employees who are classified as exempt are paid by salary and don’t receive overtime at all. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), if an eligible employee works more than 40 hours during a standard workweek, the employer must pay an overtime rate of one-and-a-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for those hours.

How many hours does an employer have to pay overtime?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), if an eligible employee works more than 40 hours during a standard workweek, the employer must pay an overtime rate of one-and-a-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for those hours. The workweek is a fixed seven-day period, but different employees can have different workweeks.