As our wage and hour lawyers have repeatedly explained that under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers must pay their employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and pay overtime at time and one-half for all hours worked over 40 hours in a given workweek. But, under § 13(a)(1) provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. We have also chronicled how employers have tried to avoid FLSA overtime and break requirements simply by slapping a fancy title on a non-exempt employee, and the liability this has caused to those employers, including the Aon Corp. overtime claim settlement for $10.5 million, and Kraft overtime settlement for $900,000 in damages as well as all the plaintiffs’ costs and attorneys’ fees.
But employers always think that they are the best and smarter than the ones that got caught, and keep on trying to misclassify their employees in order to avoid paying overtime. Next up on the hit list, 24 Hour Fitness. The wage and hour complaint filed against the gym alleged:
At all relevant times, 24 HOUR FITNESS had a policy and practice of failing and refusing to pay minimum wages and overtime pay to its General Managers, Fitness Managers, Operations Managers, Assistant General Managers, Assistant Fitness Managers, Assistant Operations Managers, Sales Counselors, Personal Trainers, Juice Bar Supervisors, Front Desk Employees, Customer Relations Supervisors, Floor Supervisors and Group X Instructors, for their hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week, whether through the failure to provide any overtime pay, the denial of premium pay for all overtime hours actually worked, and/or the failure to calculate and pay overtime premiums according to law.
Essentially, the complaint alleges that 24 Hour Fitness gave manager and supervisor titles to employees that did not have those responsibilities. The outcome? Earlier in September, a federal judge approved a $17.4 million overtime settlement to be paid to 862 claimants, which works out to be about $20,000 per employee. Employers will continue to gamble that they can cheat employees out of overtime payments at time and a half; and they will continue to get caught and be forced to pay the price.
If you believe that your employer is not paying you all of your wages for all of your lawfully earned overtime compensation at a rate of one and half times your normal wages as requires under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act or Ohio Fair Labor Standards Act, contact the attorneys at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm today for a free and confidential initial consultation. Or maybe you are being misclassified as an independent contractor. The wage and hour lawyers at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm will provide you with the best options for your overtime pay dispute situation. If you even think that you may be entitled to overtime pay that you are not being paid, call 866-797-6040.
Disclaimer:
The materials available at this wage and hour law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Your best option is to contact an Ohio overtime attorney to obtain advice with respect to FLSA questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm or any individual attorney.