Unfortunately, there are many job industries that frequently pay their workers a day rate or weekly salary without any regard to all the hours actually worked. This often denies a worker from being compensated correctly. They are left earning less than the hourly minimum wage and/or kept from receiving overtime pay at time and a half of what their regular hourly rates should be when working over 40 hours in a work week. The oil and gas industry, for example, has many of these wage related issues. They frequently misclassify individuals as exempt from receiving overtime pay. Instead, employees will be paid a flat rate, or a day rate for all hours worked. This is especially true when employees work for several weeks straight and anywhere from 10 to 12 hours per day. Under federal law, employees cannot be paid a day rate and have to be paid overtime pay when they work over 40 hours in a week.
Recently, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP alongside with Bruckner Burch PLLC, filed a collective/class action lawsuit against EnSite USA, Inc., a full-service project and construction management company providing a myriad of services to companies in the pipeline transmission and distribution industry. This lawsuit seeks to represent non-exempt day rate employees who assist in EnSite’s operations and aims to recover unpaid overtime. EnSite required its day rate employees to work well over forty hours per week without properly compensating them for overtime. Instead, EnSite paid them a set daily rate, regardless of how many hours they worked violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (“KWHL”) and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Act (“OWA”).
Knowing whether you are being paid in accordance with the law is often not as clear as you’d like. Reaching out to an employment attorney can be helpful in these situations to help you determine if your employer is complying with the proper wage laws. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP offers a free phone consultation with one of their available attorneys who will help shed some light on your rights as a worker. The firm has had success recovering unpaid wages for day rate workers. We can be reached at (212) 300-0375 or you may view our website for additional information regarding your rights.
You may also view the complaint here.