Many Texas workers understand that their job classification has an effect their eligibility for overtime pay. When companies violate wage laws, sometimes the U.S. Department of Labor takes action, as was the case with the insurance software company Zenefits. According to an agreement with regulators from the Wage and Hour Division, the company will pay more than 700 of its account executives and sales representatives in two states $3.4 million owed for unpaid overtime.
Regulators determined that the employer wrongly classified these employees as exempt from rules about minimum wage and overtime. Zenefits paid them a flat salary without any consideration for hours worked or time devoted to training. The Department of Labor will continue to monitor the company to prevent future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
A regional administrator from the department said that the agreement with Zenefits granted workers the money that they deserved and validated employers that comply with wage laws. The VP of Communications at Zenefits expressed pleasure with the fact that the agreement with regulators did not include penalties or fines.
When a person has questions about how an employer is interpreting wage and hour laws, an attorney might provide answers. An attorney could examine the reasons given by an employer for denying overtime pay or minimum wage and determine if the employer’s practices meet legal standards. Apparent violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, such as employee misclassification and incomplete payroll records, might lead to a filing of a complaint with the Department of Labor as a prelude to a lawsuit.
