Throughout the state of Illinois, there have been several overtime laws set in place to grant workers fair wages when they are working over 40 hours a week. The federal minimum wage for those over the age of 18 is $8.25, however, this number should increase depending on the amount of hours an employee has worked. The general minimum for overtime wages is 150% of the original wages. This meaning if an employee gets paid $10.00 an hour regularly, then with overtime they will be receiving at least $15.00 an hour. Our highly experienced employment law attorneys at Maduff & Maduff are here to help you better understand what can be considered overtime and what to do with your employer is not complying with the law.
What can be considered for overtime pay?
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 first established what can be considered overtime, which is a 40 hour work week. For instance, if you get paid bi-weekly and you work 35 hours one week and 45 the next, your employer cannot treat those as two 40 hour weeks and is required to provide the extra wages for the 5 hours of overtime. As an employee, you want to ensure you have the correct knowledge as to what else is considered overtime that your employer neglected to tell you about:
– Telling employees that set-up or clean-up afterhours is off-the-clock work.
– Expecting employees to fill out a timesheet with 8 hours per day despite the actual amount of time worked each day.
– Offering paid time off in substitute of overtime pay.
– Wrongfully classifying employees as independent contractors.
It is imperative to know all of the ways you may be missing out on overtime pay. In some cases, your employer may neglect to tell you that you are missing out on your extra wages, this is why it is crucial to look over your paychecks every period to determine if any of the wages are missing.
For further information on overtime laws in the Illinois or to learn more about how we can support you through your employment law struggles, contact Maduff & Maduff today.