FLSA Category Archives — Page 8 of 12 — Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog Published by Atlanta, Georgia Employment Lawyers

The Importance of Attention to Detail, and Using Your Employer’s Lack of It to Your Advantage in Your FLSA Case

December 16, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

An American psychotherapist became famous after he published a self-help book entitled Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all Small Stuff. While that may be great advice in terms of mental health, the exact opposite is often true in legal matters. Many times, the small stuff is the stuff most worth sweating, as something very small may make a very big difference in terms of success versus defeat. That’s why a knowledgeable Atlanta worker misclassification lawyer is so valuable to you, as your attorney will spot all of the small stuff that is most definitely worth sweating.

Here in Georgia, workers, when it comes to minimum wage and overtime, often rely on the protections written into federal law. With that in mind, even cases from outside Georgia may offer very useful insights for you and your minimum wage and overtime case.

A recent Fair Labor Standards Act case from North Carolina is a good example. The case involved an industry where minimum wage and overtime disputes are common: adult entertainment. The plaintiff was an exotic dancer at a club in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. Her lawsuit alleged that the club improperly classified her as an independent contractor when she really was an employee and, in the process, improperly failed to meet the overtime and minimum wage obligations of the FLSA.

Pizza Delivery Drivers in Georgia Settle Their Federal Minimum Wage Case Against a Major National Pizza Chain

November 16, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Delivery drivers face many challenges in the performance of their jobs. For some drivers, those difficulties might include unsafe drivers on the road, employers who impose unrealistic goals, and unruly dogs at residences. A more insidious problem some delivery drivers face is receiving what amounts to sub-minimum wages in violation of the law. If you think that is happening or has happened to you, you should talk to a knowledgeable Atlanta minimum wage lawyer about your circumstance.

One company that has found itself connected to multiple minimum wage cases involving its delivery drivers is Domino’s, the nationwide pizza chain. Delivery drivers have filed cases against Domino’s and/or its franchisees in Georgia, Washington, and New Jersey, just to name three.

The Georgia case, filed last year in the federal court for the Middle District of Georgia, was recently resolved via a settlement. Terms of the settlement, of which the parties informed the court on Oct. 22, 2021, were not made public.

Claim Preclusion and the Impact It Potentially Can Have on Your Unpaid Overtime Lawsuit in Georgia

November 9, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Having the right Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer on your side can be priceless. In addition to all of the things your attorney will do, he/she may also provide incalculable value in the mistakes that he/she helps you avoid.

There are actually multiple ways that you can steer your case badly. One way is by taking action, but then taking the wrong action.

Although not from Georgia, a driver’s recent unpaid overtime case is a good example. Two months after leaving her job with a transportation services company, the driver sued. Her lawsuit stated that she was seeking compensation for “monies arising out of nonpayment of wages.”

Compensable Idle Time, Unpaid Meal Breaks and Your Unpaid Overtime Case in Georgia

October 22, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In a line from a popular 1999 workplace comedy film, the main character described his workweek thusly: “I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I’m working… I’d say in a given workweek I only do about 15 minutes of real, actual work.” Idle time at work is a reality at many jobs. How your employer does (or doesn’t) credit that idle time when it comes to paying you — including overtime pay — potentially can be a basis for an employer’s legal liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you think your employer has underpaid you in violation of the law, get in touch with an Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer right away.

Determining pay for workers’ idle time sometimes can present challenges. As an example, consider this unpaid overtime case involving employees of a federal government contractor.

The employer was an entity tasked with providing security on the flights the U.S. government provides to take certain deported immigrants back to their home countries. The employees were the security officers on those flights.

What the ‘Economic Reality Test’ Is and How It May Impact Your Unpaid Overtime Case in Georgia

October 15, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

For many people who need to pursue legal action for unpaid overtime, one of the biggest hurdles they must clear is establishing that they are employees and not independent contractors, as independent contractors are not entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Success in this regard involves utilizing the “economic reality test” established under federal law. Utilizing this test to your maximum benefit can be critical to your success, so it is vitally important that you have an experienced Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer on your side from the very start.

To get an idea of this “economic reality test” in action, there’s this recent FLSA case from the federal court for the Northern District of Georgia. The plaintiffs were maintenance workers who alleged that, over an extended period, they were deprived of substantial amounts of overtime pay.

The group of handymen did maintenance work for an entity created to provide maintenance and property rehab services to a residential property management company. R.K., one of the workers, alleged that he “worked an average of ’60-plus hours a week'” during the period from April 2018 to January 2019 but did not get paid any overtime.

You May Be Entitled to Overtime Pay in Georgia, Even if Your Job Title Says You’re a ‘Manager’

September 30, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Your employer may engage in various tactics that result in your not getting the total pay you deserve, including when it comes to overtime pay. Those techniques may be intentional or they may be negligent but, either way, they may be a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and may entitle you to receive compensation. Time to act and seek that compensation is limited, however, so make sure you contact a knowledgeable Atlanta overtime lawyer right away if you think you have been illegally denied the overtime you deserve.

A case from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is a prime example. What started as an investigation into improper employment practices at a single golf driving range eventually expanded… by a great deal. By the time the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division finished, a Texas-based employer was on the hook for $750,000 in improperly unpaid overtime wages to more than 250 employers in 25 states. That group included 11 driving range employees here in the Atlanta area.

Of the $750,000, nearly $50,000 went to those 11 Georgia employees, including $16,000 to four employees at the Alpharetta driving range and nearly $33,000 to seven employees at the West Midtown location.

A New Federal Court Minimum Wage Ruling Could Offer Huge Benefits for Some Tipped Workers in Georgia

September 17, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

If you work in many parts of the service industry, you know the importance of tips to your overall income. That’s because tipped workers’ base minimum “cash wage” is only $2.13 per hour under the Fair Labor and Standards Act. There are circumstances, though, where your employer is not entitled to pay you this lower wage, even if your job position is that of a tipped worker. If you think that you’ve been unfairly denied your proper wages, you should act without delay to contact an Atlanta minimum wage lawyer.

Some places have state laws that impose higher minimum wage obligations on employers than the FLSA does. Georgia is not one of those states. The federal law, though, does erect some rules to safeguard tipped workers. As a recent minimum wage case reminds us, one of those things is that, even if you work as a tipped restaurant server, your employer cannot pay you the tipped worker wage and then assign you to tasks that do not allow you to earn tips.

L.R., the plaintiff, worked as a server at a diner. According to the server, the employer required her to perform various tasks other than serving guests. These jobs included an array of things, ranging from re-stocking the salad bar to cleaning the restaurant to rolling silverware inside napkins. None of these tasks involved interacting with customers so none of the time spent on them presented an opportunity to earn a tip.

11th Circuit Court Says that Farm Workers Were Entitled to Overtime for the Hours They Spent Transporting Other Workers to and from Work

September 10, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

There are many ways in which a Fair Labor Standards Act violation can occur. One of those is when your employer fails to pay you overtime for the work you did in excess of 40 hours in a week. This failure could mean missing out on a substantial amount of pay. Your employer may try to avoid paying and avoid liability by arguing that the FLSA does not entitle you to receive overtime pay. When that happens to you, fight back with an experienced Atlanta unpaid overtime lawyer.

You probably already know that certain groups of workers are described as “exempt” when it comes to the overtime provisions of the FLSA. In other words, employers do not violate the law when they fail to pay those workers overtime. Generally, a lot of folks associate “exempt employee” jobs with “white collar” salaried positions. These workers aren’t the only ones who are exempt. Another group of exempt workers is agricultural workers.

As the overtime case of a fruit harvesting and hauling company based in Florida reveals, though, not all work done in connection with an agricultural operation is, in fact, covered by the agriculture exemption to the FLSA. In other words, just because you work in the agriculture business, that does not automatically mean you cannot be owed overtime pay.

Another Atlanta-Area Gentlemen’s Club is Facing a Legal Action Brought by Its Dancers Whom It Allegedly Illegally Underpaid

August 23, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

June 2021 brought yet another lawsuit against an Atlanta-area gentlemen’s club due to the club’s alleged failure to comply with minimum wage and overtime laws in its payment of its dancers. This is not the first time that a Georgia club has been hauled into court for this kind of legal violation. For those both inside and outside the strip club industry, a failure to receive the pay the law demands means an unfairly diminished degree of financial security. Don’t suffer in silence; instead, get in touch with a knowledgeable Atlanta minimum wage and overtime lawyer right away.

This latest Fair Labor Standards Act case involved a strip club located in Clayton County. The plaintiffs were two of the club’s dancers who alleged that the pay they received violated both minimum wage and overtime laws.

According to one of the dancers, she worked more than 1,000 unpaid hours across five months, 200 of which were overtime hours. The second dancer had it even worse, working more than 2,400 unpaid hours across 13 months, including 600 hours of overtime, according to the complaint. All told, the club allegedly owed the dancers more than $27,000 and $55,000, respectively.

The Many Reasons Why It Is Important to Choose Wisely When Your Employer Makes a Settlement Offer in Your Minimum Wage Case

August 9, 2021 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

When you retain a knowledgeable Atlanta minimum wage lawyer, you are getting more than just the things that that attorney knows about the law itself. You are also getting the benefit of everything that that lawyer knows about trials and trial practice, including all of the procedural rules and requirements. You are getting your counsel’s knowledge of a case’s value, derived from his/her past professional experiences. When you choose the right attorney, you are getting a wealth of knowledge in all of these areas, which can help at every step along the way, including making settlement-versus-litigation decisions or carrying out an appeal.

Taking the correct steps at each of these junctures is crucial to maximizing your success. A minimum wage case that was recently before the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is a good example.

The worker in the case, R.V., was a salesman at a vehicle dealership. The salesman’s lawsuit alleged that the employer forced him to work off the clock without paying him a minimum wage, in addition to other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The salesman asserted that the employer owed him more than $12,700 in damages.