Overtime Pay
Are you confused about whether you are entitled to overtime pay? All employees—including salaried employees—and many "independent contractors" are entitled to overtime pay equal to at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek, unless specifically “exempt.”
Some employers intentionally violate overtime law to pad their bottom-line because they recognize the difficulties employees face trying to understanding whether they are entitled to overtime pay. But employers do so at great risk.
Exemptions are few and the penalties for violating an employee’s overtime rights, even for mistakes, are severe. If you regularly work more than 40 hours per workweek and don’t receive overtime pay, you may be owed thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime plus penalties, interest, and attorneys’ fees.
So how do you find out if you are entitled to overtime pay? We've prepared some general guidelines below to help you understand your overtime pay rights. We've also expanded our web content on Overtime Pay. But the only true way to find out if you are eligible for overtime pay is to contact a Texas overtime law firm.
Some employers intentionally violate overtime law to pad their bottom-line because they recognize the difficulties employees face trying to understanding whether they are entitled to overtime pay. But employers do so at great risk.
Exemptions are few and the penalties for violating an employee’s overtime rights, even for mistakes, are severe. If you regularly work more than 40 hours per workweek and don’t receive overtime pay, you may be owed thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime plus penalties, interest, and attorneys’ fees.
So how do you find out if you are entitled to overtime pay? We've prepared some general guidelines below to help you understand your overtime pay rights. We've also expanded our web content on Overtime Pay. But the only true way to find out if you are eligible for overtime pay is to contact a Texas overtime law firm.
Texas Overtime Lawyer
Dallas overtime lawyer Barry Hersh explains overtime rights in plain English and aggressively represents employees in overtime pay lawsuits. The Hersh Law Firm is available to pursue unpaid overtime claims for employees all over Texas, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, El Paso, and San Antonio. To submit your claim for a free evaluation, contact us here.
OVERTIME PAY GUIDELINES
- All employees who earn less than $23,660 per year automatically are entitled to overtime pay.
- Non management employees who perform construction, maintenance, installation, repair, production, kitchen, clerical, and secretarial work generally always are entitled to overtime pay.
- With rare exceptions, all hourly employees are entitled to overtime pay.
- Except for employees who regularly travel, most commissioned employees are entitled to overtime pay.
- Most salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay:
- Employees who earn a salary of less than $455 per workweek always are entitled to overtime.
- Salaried employees who earn $455 per workweek or more still are entitled to overtime pay unless his/her job duties fall within one of the narrowly-defined overtime exemptions, such as the executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, or computer-related employee exemptions.
- Job titles never determine whether you are entitled to overtime pay, but certain jobs almost always qualify for overtime pay: paralegals, file clerks, administrative assistants, inside sales, call center, customer service representatives, IT/help desk, IT “tier-one” support, accounts payable/account receivable representative, and more.
