1
Do You Fall Into One of These Categories?
On call - if you are required to be 'on call' and must report to work on short notice, you may be entitled to overtime pay.
2
Combining work weeks
If you work more than 40 hours in a week, you should be paid for overtime that week even if your employer combines two or more weeks on a paycheck. For example, some employees get paid bi-weekly or semi-monthly which means an employer may refuse to pay overtime for the first week at, say, 45 hours when the second week is less than 40 hours because they'll combine the two to get a total of 80 hours or less.
3
Pre-approval of overtime
Do you need to get pre-approval before working overtime? If your employer will not pay for unapproved overtime even if you work extra hours, talk to a Florida attorney about that overtime wage!
4
Taking home work
If you take work home with you, generally the employer must pay you for that additional work time.
5
Putting in hours "off the clock"
Does your employer require you to perform duties before or after your work day starts or ends? An example would be a dental office employee who is required to turn on equipment before clocking in for the morning, or to close down the equipment before leaving for the day and after clocking out.
6
Unpaid breaks or working through lunch
You may be owed an overtime wage if your Florida employer does not pay you for breaks of more than 5 minutes and less than 20 minutes or if you are required to clock out for lunch, but must complete work-related duties during your lunch break.
7
Fancy job title
You may have a snappy job title that makes you feel important (and means the employer thinks he can get away with not paying you overtime). For example, if you are a "supervisor" but don't actually supervise anything, see a lawyer about those Florida overtime wage laws!
8
Meetings or training
Are you are required to attend a meeting or do some training outside of work hours? An example would be a morning "briefing" before clocking in.
9
Take Action!
If you are reading this and you've worked more than 40 hours a week more often than you'd like to think about, consider that you might be able to collect an overtime wage in Florida. But, don't wait too long to consult with an attorney. The FLSA only permits an employee to recover up to two years (sometimes three years if the employer's violation is found to have been wilfull) of unpaid back-wages. With every day that passes, you lose valuable time in which to recover your overtime.
