Exempt Employees in Virginia Wage and Hour Cases
The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, provides essential protections to many workers in Virginia and throughout the country. The most commonly exercised rights are those concerning the minimum hourly wage and the payment of overtime. Many states have chosen to expand upon these minimum protections, but Virginia is not one of them. As a result, the federal minimum wage and hour laws apply to all workers in Virginia.
However, this law does not protect every employee. There are certain workers who are left to fend for themselves when dealing with issues concerning the proper payment of wages. Especially in terms of overtime, the FLSA specifically allows employers in certain fields to not pay overtime to otherwise eligible workers. In still other situations, workers who earn pay as a salaried employee are not protected at all.
Exempt employees in Virginia wage and hour cases face a difficult legal path. They must often fend for themselves when seeking justice in the case of wage theft. An experienced wage and hour attorney could help individuals to understand their rights and which portion of the FLSA applies to their work situation.
The Concept of an Exempt Employee
The provisions of the FLSA are applied to most workers in most professions. However, some workers are considered exempt under the law. This simply means that the protections of the FLSA do not apply to them. In certain cases, this applies to entire professional fields.
Workers in the service industry that receive tips, certain agricultural employees, and workers under twenty are specifically mentioned in the FLSA. As a result, employers do not need to pay these workers at the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour.
Other classes of workers cannot collect overtime pay. These include railroad workers, truck drivers, or any salaried employee who earns more than $455 a week. As a result of this exempt status, these workers are not protected by the FLSA. They must seek out other forms of justice in the case of wage theft.
Remedies for Exempt Workers
Because the FLSA does not apply to exempt employees in Virginia wage and hour cases , they cannot petition the department of labor to hear their case. This leaves exempt workers no other choice but to take their case to Virginia court. In some cases, a worker can argue that an employer has illegally withheld wages, such as by not paying every two weeks. In other situations, employees may argue that an employer has not paid all the wages for all of the hours worked, even if the minimum wage laws do not apply.
In many scenarios, taking a case directly to court is the better option than waiting for the Department of Labor. Simply sending a demand letter to a supervisor may quickly resolve the problem. If the case does need to go to court, a worker should be prepared to present evidence of wage theft such as timetables of hours worked or information concerning how often they have received pay.
Exempt Employees in Virginia Wage and Hour Cases May Face a Difficult Road
Exempt employees under the FLSA do not receive many of the protections concerning minimum wage and overtime pay. However, this does not mean that an employer is free to steal from them. Exempt employees in Virginia wage and hour cases still have rights. All workers must be paid for all hours that they have worked and at least every other week. Any failure to do so on the part of an employer is a cause of action in a Virginia civil court.
An attorney could help aggrieved employees to collect evidence, to file the complaint, and represent their interests in court. All people have the right to work with dignity and wage theft is a prominent problem that jeopardizes this right. Take a step to stand up for yourself; contact an attorney today to let them get to work for you.
