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The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes acceptable working conditions for all employees nationwide, including minimum wage, overtime, employment standards for working minors, and recordkeeping. FLSA covers all workers in the private sector and also those in federal, state, and local governments. At the Law Office of Matt Hardin, our Nashville Fair Labor Standards Act lawyer strives to hold employers accountable for illegal wage and hour practices. Tennessee has no separate wage and hour laws, so any claim brought to require an employer to pay minimum wage or overtime must be filed under FLSA, and our employment lawyer can help.
Under FLSA, covered employees are either “exempt” or “nonexempt.” Exempt workers are individuals who are not entitled to overtime pay because they are paid $23,600 on a yearly salary basis, and they perform exempt job duties as described in the FLSA regulations. “Nonexempt” employees are entitled to overtime and must be paid the federal minimum wage.
What is overtime? Under FLSA, employees must be paid overtime at a rate of one and a half times the regular rate of pay after an employee works 40 hours in a single workweek. A workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours or seven consecutive periods of 24 hours each. You are considered to be working any time you must be on an employer’s premises or on duty at another workplace designated by the employer. Your employer does not have to pay overtime for the time you work on holidays or weekends unless you both agree to that effect or the work you do on a holiday or weekend counts as overtime. Our Nashville FLSA attorney can answer any questions you may have on this topic.
If you are a nonexempt employee covered by FLSA who has not been paid the federal minimum wage or overtime, you can bring a claim under this law either by filing a complaint with the Department of Labor or by bringing a private lawsuit. The complaint must be filed within the two-year statute of limitations unless it is a willful violation, in which case the statute of limitations is three years. Any part of the back wages that were earned more than two years before the federal court lawsuit is filed may not be collected as part of the damages award if you are successful. An experienced Nashville Fair Labor Standards Act lawyer can help you calculate the amount you may be entitled to.
Most people file a private lawsuit, but if you decide to file a complaint with the Department of Labor, and review of the basic claim information reveals that a potential violation of FLSA has occurred, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will investigate. If the WHD can’t conduct an investigation or secure back wages, you will still have the right to bring a private lawsuit as long as you are still within the two-year statute of limitations.
If you successfully bring an FLSA claim, you will be entitled to back pay for unpaid wages and overtime starting two years before you filed your complaint. You may be able to receive liquidated damages in the form of double the amount of back pay, as well as reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and attorneys’ fees. An FLSA lawyer can help you file a claim to recover for minimum wage or overtime violations. Consult Matt Hardin by calling sending a message through our online form.
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