Many months ago, the US Department of Labor made some changes to their set of rules and regulations that cover overtime. These changes will impact approximately 4.2 million employees throughout the country, many of them right here in Texas. The changes were made to help provide additional protections to employees who were being classified by employers as executive, administrative, or professional, and therefore exempt from overtime laws. Up to this point, employees with these types of titles or roles could be exempt if they were making just $23,660 per year. After the new regulations are in place, that pay rate will jump to $47,476 per year.
New Laws Take Effect December 1st, 2016
The new regulations will begin on December 1st, though many companies are taking action far sooner so they don’t risk fines or penalties. Unfortunately, some employers who haven’t been following the regulations closely are unaware that the deadline is fast approaching and they aren’t planning to take any action. Whether this is intentional to try to keep their costs down, or simply out of ignorance, it is not something employees need to accept.
How Laws Will Impact Employees
Any employee who works in a role that is covered by the new regulations will have protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act so they can demand overtime pay for any work performed beyond 40 hours per week. Ideally an employee can present the information to their boss, and the boss will take whatever action is necessary to be in line with the new regulations. If that does not occur, however, it may be necessary to take legal action to get the overtime pay that employees are entitled to.
What to Do if Your Employer is in Violation of the Laws
If, after December 1st, a qualifying employee is working more than 40 hours in a week, and not receiving overtime pay, they should reach out to an attorney. The attorney can review the specifics of the case, and if it has merit, help them file the correct legal complaints against the employer. This can be done by an individual or group of employees all together to save on resources. Most employers will, after being served with the legal documents, correct their errors. If they don’t, the courts can step in and take action. It is important to note that it is possible to seek payments for overtime worked all the way back to the point where the new regulations take effect (December 1st).
If you have any questions about how these new regulations might impact your job, and what you can do to prepare, please don’t hesitate to contact Amsberry Law Firm to schedule a consultation.
Attorney Russell J.G. Amsberry
Attorney Russell J.G. Amsberry founded the Amsberry Law Firm in 1995 with the goal of providing clients with exceptional, focused representation on their issues. His success as a legal advocate has been reflected in the numerous professional honors he has received, such as speaking engagements and inclusion in Scene in SA magazine’s listing of the best lawyers in San Antonio, a Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubble, and an amazing rating from Avvo. [ Attorney Bio ]
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