Federal overtime payment laws likely to change soon

The Obama administration has begun the process of enhancing the overtime protection laws in the United States. At this time, managers that are paid a salary are exempt from overtime laws. Businesses throughout New York have abused this technicality to help cut their labor costs. They give employees the title of management so that they do not have to pay any overtime wages for their hard work.

The current law does not give a clear definition about how much time an employee should spend doing managerial tasks to be considered management. The Obama administration wants to address this by changing the law to state that at least 50 percent of their time should be spend on managerial duties. This change in the law is going to be a great benefit to overtime wage victims and their employment law attorneys.

When the overtime wages law goes into effect, New York employment law attorneys would only need to prove that the employee does not spend a majority of their time at work performing managerial tasks.  The problem with the law as it stands is that without a clear line, even the most skilled and experienced employment law attorneys are subject to the perception of juries. It is possible for a jury to find that an employee that spends even just a quarter of their time doing managerial tasks to still be considered a manager.

Closing up the loophole in the overtime wages law will be a big step in protecting the rights of employees in New York and throughout the country. Employers are abusing the law to make a little more profit at the expense of their employees that are not actually in managerial positions. It is wrong morally, and hopefully, soon it will also be wrong legally as well.

Contact the New York wage and hour attorneys at Hepworth, Gershbaum & Roth, PLLC to discuss your rights to receive overtime wages from your employer. Schedule a free confidential consultation by calling 212-545-1199 or online.