Workers in Missouri may find themselves dealing with employers that attempt to avoid paying overtime, providing breaks or providing proper compensation for all hours worked. A wide range of employees may struggle with wage and hour violations, from food service workers to home care aides and nurses. In one case, a staffing firm is paying $3.2 million in order to resolve a wage and hour lawsuit brought as a class-action case by nurses in California.
The nurses alleged that the company refused to pay them overtime as required under state law. They said that the company would inaccurately calculate their regular pay, leading to unpaid and underpaid overtime hours. They also accused the staffing firm of unfair business practices that violated labor law. In addition, when people leave a job, they are entitled to receive their final paychecks promptly. However, these nurses said that their final paychecks were delayed and incomplete. While overtime law varies from state to state, non-exempt workers nationwide must receive proper overtime pay. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, workers must receive at least 1.5 times their regular pay rate when they work over 40 hours in a week.
However, some disputes have emerged over the definition of the “regular rate” of pay, especially where employee benefits are involved. According to a December 2019 update by the Department of Labor, employers can exclude discretionary bonuses, parking benefits and the costs of programs like gym access or employee discounts when calculating regular and overtime rates of pay.
In many cases, workers are simply struggling to receive overtime pay at all, and some workers may be misclassified as exempt from the law when they are not. An employment law attorney may help workers who were the victims of wage and hour violations to seek justice and accountability.