4 Benefits of Hiring an Employment Law Attorney

There are two types of employees: clock-watchers and “overtimers.” For hard workers, there’s a clock-watching misconception. If you’re not tracking your time, you may believe you’ve missed out on the pay for those unaccounted hours. What’s worse, as a salaried staffer you might believe you aren’t entitled to any overtime at all.

In either situation, you could be eligible for your regular hourly wages and more. Only an employment law attorney knows for sure. Here are four benefits of hiring an attorney to fight for your unpaid wages.

1. Knowledge of Employment Law

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) includes provisions for a range of occupational positions and pay situations. An employment attorney has extensive knowledge on pay requirements per job – including everything from determining an exempt versus nonexempt employee to fair compensation for independent contractors, lawful compensatory time, and more.

The specific facts of your case (i.e. your job role and hours worked) will be supported by key standards for federal overtime throughout mediation or litigation.

2. Capacity to Investigate Your Claims

When you hire an employment law attorney, you’re appointing a team of investigators as well. Your untracked overtime isn’t lost – it simply needs to be uncovered. According to the FLSA, it’s employers’ responsibility to track total overtime earnings for the workweek. Furthermore, they must keep these records for up to three years.

An employment attorney can work with you to establish evidence of unpaid wages, even if you or your employer didn’t keep exact records.

3. Power to Build Your Case

An employment attorney can strengthen your case through collective action. With your permission, we’ll contact other employees to substantiate the violation of your rights, as well as the rights of other workers.

For example, collective action can be brought against employers who misclassified salaried employees as exempt. Typically, this employer practice affects more than one employee in an organization. An employment lawyer has the power to build your case by bringing your co-workers on your side.

4. Ability to Negotiate Unpaid Wages

Ultimately, you may be entitled to more money than you think. Unpaid overtime often results in a settlement of back wages – and those amounts can add up. We’ll negotiate unpaid wages for unlawful deductions, plus time and one-half of your regular pay rate for any unpaid overtime.

Fight the time clock. Contact Wenzel, Fenton, Cabassa, P.A. today to schedule a free consultation regarding your unpaid overtime and more.

Please Note: At the time this article was written, the information contained within it was current based on the prevailing law at the time. Laws and precedents are subject to change, so this information may not be up to date. Always speak with a law firm regarding any legal situation to get the most current information available.