Having an experienced and skilled employment defense attorney on your side is crucial when dealing with a wage and hour claims. Specifically, a skilled attorney will investigate the facts underlying an employee’s allegations and develop effective counterarguments and affirmative defenses to protect an employer’s legal interests. A lawyer needs to prove that the employer acted in good faith, the employee qualified as exempt under the applicable wage laws, or the employee waived his or her rights.

Failure to comply with the federal and state wage and overtime guidelines can subject employers to stiff fines, penalties and expensive lawsuits, depending upon the nature of the alleged violation. Moreover, employers can also be forced to reimburse employees for any unpaid wages. The best way for a business to avoid these issues is to keep as accurate a set of records as possible and ensure all managers responsible for personnel thoroughly understand applicable wage and hour laws.

An Overview of Federal and State Minimum Wage Laws

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which establishes the federal minimum wage and overtime requirements, hourly employees are entitled to receive no less than $7.25 per hour, as of June 24, 2009. As long as the employee is 16 years of age or older, there is no limit to the number of hours that he or she can work, on either a daily or a weekly basis. However, the employer must pay the employee one and a half times their normal wage rate for every hour worked over the regular 40-hour workweek. Despite a few narrow exceptions, the federal minimum wage laws affect most employees, meaning that very few employers are exempt from the wage and overtime requirements as set by FLSA.

However, some states, including Florida, have enacted their own minimum wage laws. Pursuant to Article X, §24 of the Florida Constitution (known as the Minimum Wage Amendment), employers must pay qualifying employees a minimum of $7.67 per hour, the amount of which is slated to increase in January 2013. Despite the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, Florida employers are legally required to pay employees the State statutory minimum. As for overtime, Florida’s requirements mirror that of the federal guidelines stated above.

Failure to comply with the federal and state wage and overtime guidelines can subject employers to stiff fines, penalties, and expensive lawsuits, depending upon the nature of the alleged violation. The best way to avoid these issues – and to ensure compliance with the applicable laws – is to contact a Fort Lauderdale business employment attorney.

Exemption status and overtime

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes wage and hour laws at the federal level. This includes how to define an exempt versus a non-exempt employee.

A non-exempt employee refers to any worker entitled to payment for overtime under the FLSA. This pay is calculated as one-and-a-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay and must be paid when he or she works more than the standard 40 hours per week. While this directive seems straightforward, many employers conflict with the law by incorrectly calculating how much overtime is actually due or by misclassifying non-exempt employees as exempt.

An exempt employee falls under one of the literally dozens of categories for this status defined by the FLSA, and is not entitled to overtime. The most common exemptions are for white-collar roles, such as the following:

• Administrative personnel
• Executives
• IT professionals
• Outside sales force

The burden of proof that an employee is exempt falls on the employer, which makes it vital for a business owner to understand who rightly fits the category. In addition, state laws may complicate classification, based on the age of an employee and other issues. The best way to ensure proper compliance – and avoid an employee taking legal action – is to contact business employment attorney Peter Mavrick proactively for help deciphering all applicable federal and state overtime laws.