Kuhlman Law, LLC was founded to give those who feel that they have been marginalized by the actions of other the justice they deserve.

Unpaid Overtime

Minnesota Unpaid Overtime Law

As an employee, you work hard for your employer and sacrifice time away from family and friends to earn your paycheck. When you have to work overtime, you forego even more time with your loved ones. Recognizing the burden that overtime puts on workers, both federal and Minnesota laws provide that employees should be sufficiently compensated for working overtime.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that certain employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for each hour worked and receive overtime pay at one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a work week. The Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act (MFLSA) requires that employers pay certain employees overtime for all hours worked in excess of 48 per week.

Minnesota Unpaid Overtime Lawyers Fighting for Fair Pay

Minneapolis Minnesota unpaid overtime wage lawyers, Kuhlman Law, fight for employees who have not been paid their overtime hours or who have not been paid their fair wages.

Unpaid overtime and unpaid wage and hour claims can go back several years and employees may be entitled to claim penalties and interest in addition to the unpaid overtime hours.

There are different requirements and exemptions that may apply to the employer depending on whether the employee brings a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit or a Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act claim to pursue unpaid overtime wages. A Minnesota unpaid overtime attorney can help you determine which type of claim best fits your situation and if a successful claim can be brought.

Examples of Unpaid Overtime Situations in the Workplace

  • An employer requires employees to arrive fifteen minutes early for their shift each day to set up and prepare for the day’s work, but does not compensate its employees for the 15 minutes of prep time each day.
  • An employer pays overtime hours, but only at the employees’ standard hourly rate.
  • An employer requires employees to do work at home to prepare for the upcoming business day or to make after-hour deliveries or deposits for the employer. Depending on the employee’s job categorization, the employee could be entitled to these unpaid overtime hours.
  • An employer is upset that a project or task did not get done during regular work hours and orders the employee to finish the project off the clock when they get home.

Unpaid Overtime Compensation for Servers, Bartenders and Bussers

One of the industries most fraught with unpaid overtime wage and hour claims is the restaurant, bartending/nightclub industry. Managers are often ordered by their supervisors to cut and limit labor costs. In an effort to do so, some managers may shave time off their servers, bartenders, cooks, baristas, waiters, and waitressesclock-ins and clock-outs to limit overtime hours. Shaving or changing an employee’s time worked or hours worked is illegal and has been the grounds for various wage and hour lawsuits.

Another way in which employees in the restaurant industry have been victimized by their employers is by being forced to perform “side work” without pay. In the restaurant industry, side work generally involves work outside of handling customer orders and concerns. Side work can involve rolling place settings, doing dishes, cleaning the prep area, stocking supplies or condiments, or preparing and organizing garnishes. Sometimes, employers instruct servers that after they have been cut for the evening to clock out and then finish their side work before going home. Side work is work and employees should be paid an hourly wage for doing side work.

Under certain circumstances, Restaurants, bars, and nightclubs have also been held accountable when they have forced their servers and employees to share tips with the restaurant, managers, or created a tip pool.

Attorney Chris Kuhlman of Kuhlman Law, PLLC is very familiar with side work as he worked several years as a server in the restaurant industry before going to law school. All of the restaurants Mr. Kuhlman worked for fortunately compensated him and his fellow servers for all of the side work they did at the restaurant.

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