Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers can help you if you have questions about unpaid wages and overtime in Minnesota. When you aren’t getting overtime pay and start asking questions, sometimes the answer is accurate. But sometimes they aren’t. We can help you understand what steps make sense. Set up a free consultation today.
When Does a Lawyer Make Sense?
Virtually everybody in Minnesota is aware of overtime pay, especially when working extra hours is part of the job. A busy week, an important deadline, or a short-staffed shift can happen. The problem is when working extra hours becomes routine and your employer refuses to pay you for that time. That’s when talking to our lawyers starts making more sense. When we sit down with you, we’ll:
- Help you understand how the MFLSA and FLSA apply to your specific situation.
- Take a closer look at your job, your hours, and how you were paid to determine whether overtime may be owed.
- Review your pay stubs, time records, schedules, and other information that can help show what happened.
- Help you understand your options and handle conversations with your employer if you’re not sure how to move forward.
- Take the next steps if your employer refuses to fix the problem.
A lot of people in this situation hesitate to speak up about unpaid overtime. Worries about upsetting their employer, putting their job at risk, or wondering whether they even have a valid claim in the first place are all fair concerns. But it’s not a question of what the law says, it’s a question of what information you should look for and what you should do from there.
What Does the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act Say About Overtime Pay?
Just like the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does, the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MFLSA) sets the table in terms of how workers should get overtime pay. Legally speaking, there’s two thresholds:
- The FLSA says that workers are entitled to 1.5 times their regular pay if they work over 40 hours in a workweek.
- The MLFSA adds that the overtime rate kicks in after you go past 48 hours in a single week.
This is a bit confusing, but generally, both apply to most hourly workers in Minnesota. Even still, that doesn’t mean that your employer is going to follow the law or at least try to get around it.
How Employers in Minnesota Try to Get Around the MFLSA
Contrary to what you might expect, a lot of overtime problems aren’t obvious. It’s not just a matter of knocking hours off your paystub, although that can happen sometimes. Most of the time, there’s situations where your employer exploits a loophole or finds wiggle room around the MLFSA by:
- Not paying overtime when it’s owed. Some employers fail to pay overtime altogether. Others may only count certain hours and leave out time that should have been included.
- Expecting you to work before or after your scheduled shift. Maybe you’re opening the business, setting up equipment, finishing paperwork, cleaning up, or wrapping up tasks after you clock out. If you’re doing work for your employer, that time may need to be paid.
- Making you work through unpaid breaks. A break isn’t really a break if you’re still answering calls, helping customers, responding to messages, or completing job duties. That time may count as hours worked.
- Asking you to work off the clock. Some employees are told to clock out and then finish what they were doing. But your employer generally can’t avoid paying you simply because the time wasn’t recorded.
- Claiming you’re exempt when you may not be. Some workers are told they don’t qualify for overtime because they’re salaried, have a certain job title, or are considered a manager or independent contractor. But those labels don’t always tell the full story.
- Not keeping accurate records of your hours. Employers are responsible for tracking time worked. If your records don’t match what actually happened, that can become an important issue.
Every workplace is different, and MFLSA violations follow suit. The problem with that, though, is that it’s a clear violation of the law. And while that’s true, it takes certain information to actually show that it’s happening.
Information That Can Help You Uncover MFLSA Violations
It’s one thing to have a suspicion that your employer is violating your right to overtime pay under the MFLSA, but it’s another to have the documentation that proves it. There’s rarely one “smoking gun”, but with enough documentation, you can establish a pattern. Usually, that comes from:
- Pay stubs and payroll records
- Time records and schedules
- Emails, texts, and workplace messages
- Your own notes about your workweek
- Tax records to show your income losses over time
What these records have in common is that you probably already have them. But even if you don’t, our team can help you pull all these pieces and then put them together to take the next steps.
Options You Have If You’re Facing MFLSA Violations
While it’s true that you probably have options if your employer isn’t following the rules laid down by MFLSA, there isn’t one right answer for everyone. The best option depends on what happened, how long it’s been going on, whether your coworkers are dealing with the same thing.
And you don’t have to go straight to court, either. One of the first things you can do is go straight to your employer. Sometimes, it’s really a mistake from inaccurate time records or a misunderstanding about how hours are being tracked. But if your employer dismisses your concerns, refuses to make changes, or continues the same practices, it may be time to look at other options:
- Filing an administrative complaint. Because this involves federal and state law, one thing you can do is go through the administrative process. That means filing a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) or the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). These agencies handle wage and hour complaints and have the power to fully look into whether your employer failed to properly pay you. They can order your employer to correct things by paying you your unpaid overtime or by making them change their practices.
- Filing a lawsuit. If your employer refuses to fix the problem, or won’t comply with the administrative action, you have the option to file a lawsuit in civil court. It can be intimidating, but it gives you the chance at “damages” like:
- Unpaid overtime plus interest
- Emotional distress
- Attorneys fees
Sometimes unpaid overtime isn’t just happening to one person. If multiple employees are being treated the same way, you can all work together in a class action lawsuit.
Again, the right option depends on your situation. Before deciding what to do, it’s important to understand what happened, what records are available, and what approach gives you the best chance of protecting your rights. It’s also important not to wait too long. Wage claims have deadlines, and waiting can make it harder to gather records, find witnesses, and show how much time you actually worked.
Learn About Your MFLSA Options With Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers
Issues involving overtime and the MFLSA can be confusing, especially when your employer tells you that your extra hours don’t count or that you’re exempt from the law. But the reality is that you probably have options, and you don’t have to try to go through them alone.
Our Minnesota team at Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers can help you understand your rights and your options if your right to overtime pay under the MFLSA is being violated. Set up a free consultation today to talk it over.
