Employees who work longer than standard eight-hour days can receive overtime pay in many circumstances. Yet, many employers will try to avoid compensating workers for their extra time. If you’ve worked overtime and your employer hasn’t paid you for these hours, you have options for recourse. But it’s important to make sure you’re eligible for overtime pay in the first place.
Overtime eligibility
In Indiana, the Fair Labor Standards Act protects most employees’ rights to overtime pay. Yet, your employer’s gross revenue may be less than $500,000 per year. Or, they may not engage in interstate commerce. In these cases, the state’s Minimum Wage Law has an overtime pay provision that guarantees proper compensation. Under both laws, workers eligible for overtime pay must receive one-and-a-half times their regular pay for these hours. While these laws allow most workers to receive overtime pay, salaried employees earning more than $455 per week are ineligible. Independent contractors also face exemption from overtime pay laws, too.
Making a claim
So long as you’re eligible for overtime pay, you can make a claim for wage recovery if nonpayment occurs. You will do this through the Wage and Hour Division of Indiana’s Department of Labor. The statute of limitations for making your claim is two years. But if your employer’s refusal to pay you overtime wages was intentional, their actions may qualify as willful. In this case, your claim window extends to three years.
If you do not receive earned overtime pay, you will want to seek assistance, no matter whether it was willful or accidental. An employment law attorney can help you achieve proper compensation.
