The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) was passed by Congress in 1938 and is one of the oldest employment rights statutes in the nation. The FLSA requires employers to pay minimum wages and overtime pay at the rate of time and a half for work over forty (40) hours in a single work week to eligible employees. The FLSA, however, provides a number of exemptions from the law’s overtime requirements for certain categories of “white collar” employees, including executive employees, administrative employees, professional employees, outside sales exemption, and computer employee exemption. To be exempt under a “white collar” exemption, you must generally be paid on a salary basis regardless of the number of hours worked in the work week and perform work that:

• is directly related to the management of the employer’s business, or
• is directly related to the general business operations of the employer, or
• requires specialized academic training for entry into a professional field, or
• is in the computer field, or
• making sales away from the employer’s place of business, or
• is in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.

To determine whether a particular exemption applies, courts examine the actual job duties that you perform without regard to your job title. Not surprisingly, some employers misclassify certain classes of employees as “exempt” from the FLSA overtime pay requirements in order to avoid paying these workers overtime wages.

The FLSA and the related Department of Labor regulations are extremely complex and are the source of frequent litigation concerning the proper classification of exempt employees. In fact, lawsuits claiming unpaid overtime claims are one of the fastest growing areas of employment litigation in federal court.

The employment rights lawyers at Kunkel & Fink, LLP are familiar with the FLSA and have experience representing individuals in claims for unpaid overtime wages. If you have any reason to believe that you or anyone else at your company has been denied overtime, call the Pittsburgh Employment Rights firm of Kunkel & Fink, LLP at 1-800-467-5272 or fill out the contact form on our website.