The Law on Unpaid Overtime in Minnesota.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MFLSA) mandate that employers pay employees time and a half for overtime worked.
What is a Collective Action?
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act – FLSA – allows workers to pursue actions for unpaid minimum wage and unpaid overtime together in one, collective action. The reason that Congress allows workers to pursue collective actions is that, oftentimes, the unlawful pay practices that applied to one employee (like working off the clock or misclassification) applied to all employees in that position – so all employees would be due their wages and overtime. The way it works is that, after you bring a lawsuit for unpaid minimum wage or overtime under federal law, your employment lawyer would make a motion to certify your case as a collective action. Basically, we’d need to show that other workers are similarly situated to you, and were subject to the same unlawful practices.
If the motion is granted, then the Court sends a mailing to all employees who have worked in that position over the past 3 years to inform them of the action and ask if they want to participate. If the employees want to participate, they just need to fill out the enclosed form and send it back in.
For a legal consultation with a unpaid overtime class action lawyer serving Minneapolis, call 612-349-2729
What is a Class Action?
Minnesota law allows employees to pursue unpaid overtime, unpaid wages, and unlawful deductions as class actions with other employees. The process is that, after the lawsuit starts, we make a motion to the court to certify the case as class action. We basically need to show that your employer’s unlawful pay practices applied to other employees like you. If the Court grants the motion and certifies the class, then the Court sends a mailing to all employees who had the same position in the past 3 years and tells them that, if they want to opt out of the lawsuit, they can do so by filling out and sending in an enclosed form. Otherwise, they will be part of the class action.
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What Is the Minimum Wage in Minnesota and What Is the Federal Minimum Wage?
By federal law, employers must pay their employees at least $7.25 per hour.
In Minnesota, the state’s minimum wage is $11.41 per hour for all employers. The law also permits a 90-day training wage for workers under age 20 of $9.31 per hour.
(Note: If you work in Minneapolis or St. Paul, the rate is higher—currently $16.37 per hour for most employers).
Minimum wage violations include “off the clock” work such as:
- Arriving early to work but not punching in until your shift starts;
- Putting on equipment or a uniform before punching in (“donning”);
- Taking off equipment or a uniform while off the clock (“doffing”);
- Working off the clock at the end of your shift to meet performance goals; or
- Working weekends or early mornings off the clock.
To see if you have a claim, take the number of hours you actually worked and divide it by your total pay for the week. If the result is below the mandated minimum, you may have a minimum wage claim. Even if you don’t have a minimum wage claim, you may have a breach of contract claim for any hours worked that your employer isn’t paying you for.
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When Is Overtime Pay Required Under Minnesota Law and Federal Law?
The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires time-and-a-half pay for all hours over 40 in a week. While the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act sets the threshold at 48 hours, you are entitled to the protection of both laws. If your employer is not paying overtime for hours over 40, you likely have a claim.
Overtime claims frequently involve “off the clock” work that brings your weekly total above 40 hours. This includes being required to:
- Arrive at work early but wait to punch in until your shift starts;
- Put on equipment or a uniform before punching in (“donning”);
- Take off equipment or a uniform after punching out (“doffing”);
- Work past your shift or on weekends to meet performance goals.
To check for a violation, add your “off the clock” time to your paid hours. If the total is greater than 40, your employer likely owes you unpaid overtime.
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What If My Employer Classified My Job as Salary and Says I’m Exempt From Overtime?
It’s true that certain jobs are considered “exempt” from overtime rules – that means that employers don’t need to pay overtime to “exempt” employees who work over 40 hours. Jobs exempt from overtime pay include:
- Employees of certain seasonal amusement or recreational establishments (think: State Fair or carnivals);
- Employees of certain small newspapers;
- Farm workers employed on small farms;
- Babysitters;
- Highly compensated employees who do office work (or other non-manual work) and make $100,000 or more each year;
- Auto, truck, or farm salespersons and mechanics;
- Railroad and airline employees, taxi drivers, and certain employees of motor carriers; and
- “White collar” employees who perform management, administrative, or executive duties.
Employers often misclassify employees as salaried or exempt when they shouldn’t. For example, some employers classify secretaries as exempt because they perform administrative work. However, for the administrative exception to apply, the employee’s primary duty must include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment regarding matters of significance. Most secretaries do not meet this test and qualify for overtime pay.
If you are misclassified, your employer owes you time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40.
How to Calculate Your Rate: Take your weekly salary and divide it by 40 to find your hourly rate. Your employer owes you time-and-a-half of that amount for all hours worked over 40.
How Do I Prove My Overtime Claim If I Don’t Have Records of the Hours I Worked?
Your employer is required by state and federal law to keep accurate records of all hours that you worked.
But, of course, sometimes employers don’t comply with the law, especially if they’re making employees work off the clock.
Of course, it is fantastic evidence if you keep records of the hours that you worked off the clock – the more detailed the better. If you can, keep a diary with the date, time you started work, and the time you ended. That is very powerful evidence in a minimum wage or overtime case.
However, the law recognizes that most employees can’t do that and places the burden on employers to keep accurate records of hours worked by employees. Therefore, when an employee can show that an employer’s records are not accurate – by testifying that employees had to work off the clock – then the law allows employees to estimate the amount of time they worked off the clock in their testimony and submit that to the jury.
What Kind of Damages Can I Get for Unpaid Overtime Claims?
For minimum wage and overtime claims, you can get the actual amount that you’re owed in minimum wage and overtime, plus an equal amount as liquidated damages. So you basically get twice the amount of actual damages that you’re owed. Additionally, your employer will be required to pay your attorney fees and costs of litigation, plus interest on the amount of wages it owes you.
What Is an Average Unpaid Overtime Case Worth?
There’s not really an “average” type of case – the value of each case depends on its own facts. Some of the factors it depends on are:
- How strong is liability? E.g, Can we prove that your employer broke the law?
- How serious are the damages? How much unpaid overtime did you work? Are there other employees who were also shorted overtime?
- Collectability. Is your employer a large corporation with the capacity to pay a large judgment?
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Unpaid Overtime Claims?
Under both state and federal law, the statute of limitations for unpaid overtime and minimum wage claims is 2 years, and 3 years if we can prove willfulness by your employer. That basically means we need to show that your employer was reckless in disregarding the law – then we can go back 3 years for your damages.
What If My Employer Is Taking Deductions Out of My Paycheck?
The Minnesota Payment of Wages Act prohibits employers from taking deductions from employees’ paychecks for lost or stolen property, damage to property, or to recover any other claimed indebtedness.
Even if you have authorized the deduction, most such authorizations are void under Minnesota law. The bottom line is that if your employer is taking money out of your paycheck, then you probably have a claim under the Minnesota Payment of Wages Act.
What Should I Do If My Employer Won’t Pay Me My Last Paycheck?
This is a common problem – so common that Minnesota law specifically addresses it.
If your employer won’t give you your last paycheck, the first thing you should do is send a letter or email asking for your last paycheck to your employer. Make sure to put the date on the letter and sign it. If possible, send it via certified mail so there’s a record of when your employer got it.
Your employer needs to pay you within 24 hours of receipt of the letter. If it doesn’t, then it owes you those wages plus an extra day’s wages up to 15 days for every day it doesn’t pay as a penalty.
Can My Employer Fire Me if I Make a Claim for Unpaid Overtime?
No. The Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act both contain anti-retaliation provisions. If your employer terminates you for making a report or complaint of unfair or improper pay practices, then you’ve got a retaliation case in addition to your unpaid overtime case.
What Should I do if my Employer isn’t Paying Overtime, or Making Me Work Off the Clock?
First of all, we’re sorry that you’re in this position. We know how hard you work, and you deserve to be paid for all of the hard work you do for your employer.
Second, call us to talk about your case.
Representative Case
We represented “Michelle” and 24 of her peers in a case against Regency Beauty Institute. Michelle and her coworkers worked for Regency as Admissions Representatives – essentially a “call center” type position that required them to call prospective students all day, inform them about Regency, and encourage them to seek admission. Though Michelle and her coworkers regularly worked 45-55 hours per week, Regency paid them all on a salary basis to avoid paying overtime. Madia Law LLC won collective class certification of the suit pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which allowed 24 of Michelle’s fellow coworkers to join the suit. After over a year of discovery, the parties settled the case for an average recovery of approximately $8,500 to each plaintiff.
The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that employers pay non-exempt employees at least minimum wage for all hours worked, and time and a half for all hours worked over 40 per week. It also allows employees to proceed collectively against their employer to recover their wages. The Fair Labor Standards Act absolutely prohibits “off the clock” work – if your employer requires you to work “off the clock” or perform any work without pay, then you may have a claim. The Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act supplements the federal protections offered by the Fair Labor Standards Act to guarantee protections to Minnesota employees regarding overtime pay, minimum wage, and unlawful deductions.
Contact Our Minneapolis Unpaid Overtime Lawyers.
You must act quickly when it comes to employment claims. If you wait, there may be strict statutes of limitation that will bar you from filing any claim at all against your employer. Call Madia Law LLC today to discuss your case.
First, contact our office and tell us about your situation. You’ll talk with our staff for about 5-10 minutes. They’ll get some basic information about you and your case.
There’s some information that we’ll need when you call. We will want to know who you worked for, what kind of work you did, for how long you worked there, how much you earned, if/when you were terminated, the reason given by your employer for any discipline and termination, and why you think your employer did something unlawful or wrongful. If you have this information handy, it will allow us to proceed more quickly.
We will get back to you shortly – usually within a few hours. If your potential case is a little outside of our wheelhouse, we may refer you to attorneys, agencies, or organizations that we think might be better suited to handle your situation. Our goal is to ensure you get the best and most appropriate help possible for your particular situation. If that’s not us, we’ll try to tell you immediately and point you in the right direction.
If we think that we might be able help you, we’ll set an appointment for you to talk with one of our Minneapolis employment lawyers. We’ll discuss your case, and give you our honest assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, and value. If we then mutually agree that Madia Law LLC will represent you, we will talk about the process of moving forward with your case.
When you talk with our employment lawyers, please be sure to have all relevant documents that you have in your possession. For example, that could include: pay-stubs, personnel files, employment handbooks/policies, letters from your employer (including your termination letter), any text messages or emails that you think are important, and any other documents that you think might be helpful.
We also fight cases regarding workplace sexual harassment, wrongful termination, whistleblower claims, and racial discrimination.
Call 612-349-2729 or complete a Case Evaluation form
