Oil Field Overtime Lawsuit

At Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, we are dedicated to fighting for workers’ rights regardless of the industry in which they work. Many times, it is unclear to workers when their rights are being violated and when they are not being paid properly for their respective job duties. At Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, we make it our priority to fight to recuperate what is owed to these hard-working individuals. Most Oil Field overtime lawsuits are becoming more prevalent across the country as workers are becoming more aware of their rights in this industry. Oil field workers are entitled to overtime pay when they work over 40 hours per workweek, regardless of what their employers tell them, or what the standard is in the industry. Our firm has brought oil field overtime lawsuits on behalf of workers to recover their unpaid wages against major corporations, regardless of their size and influence in the industry and beyond.

In May of 2015, our office filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court against an oil field company known as Exploration Drilling Inc. (“Exploration Drilling”). This lawsuit was filed on behalf of oil field workers and similarly situated employees that work or have worked for Exploration Drilling during the relevant time period and were paid a day rate for all hours worked, despite the fact that quite frequently, they worked well over 40 hours per work week. The lawsuit alleges that Exploration Drilling violated these employees’ rights by paying them a pre-set amount of money for each day worked, as opposed to an hourly rate for each hour up to forty, and time and one-half-rate for each hour in excess of forty as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the North Dakota Wage Laws. This oil field overtime lawsuit is a perfect example of how numerous oil field companies pay their employees throughout the industry, denying them their rightfully earned overtime pay at time and one-half their regular hourly rate, for all hours worked over 40 per workweek.

Another oil field overtime claim was brought in 2015 against Halliburton by the Department of Labor, one of the largest oil and gas service providers with headquarters all over the world. This oil field overtime lawsuit started when it was discovered that Halliburton failed to pay its employees the proper overtime wages for all hours worked beyond 40 per workweek. As a result of this oil field overtime lawsuit, Halliburton was ordered to pay over $18 million dollars in unpaid overtime wages to employees who had been denied their rightfully earned wages.

Similar to oil field overtime lawsuits, the Halliburton lawsuit centered on the misclassification of over 25 job categories as being exempt from overtime pay in accordance with the FLSA. In other words, Halliburton claimed that several salaried positions were not entitled to overtime pay at time and one-half their regular hourly rate for all hours worked in excess of forty per workweek because they fulfilled certain criteria allowing them to be exempt from overtime pay under the FLSA. However, like other major oil field companies across the country, Halliburton was not entitled to special treatment and their argument was denied, finding that these oil and gas workers were in fact eligible for overtime pay under the FLSA. In addition to the unpaid overtime pay claim, Halliburton was also liable for failing to keep accurate records of the hours worked for each oil and gas worker. Like Halliburton, multiple oil field companies in the industry automatically claim that all salaried oil field workers are exempt from overtime pay, which is not the case. Multiple oil field overtime lawsuits are the result of companies like Halliburton taking advantage of workers by not considering the amount paid or the specific job duties performed by their employees, and instead taking the easy way out, and denying these workers overtime pay automatically.

Oil field workers are often misclassified as exempt from overtime pay and are therefore, many times, not paid time and one-half their regular hourly rate in compliance with the FLSA. It is not uncommon for companies, even major corporations, to violate the FLSA by automatically classifying employees as exempt from overtime pay, and deny them certain wages to which they may be entitled. Situations like this lead to oil field overtime lawsuits to recover unpaid overtime for employees in addition to other claims as well. If you feel that you may have been misclassified by your employer or denied proper overtime pay simply because you are a salaried employee, or you are paid a day rate without overtime pay for any time in which you worked at an oil field company, contact the experienced employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP for a free consultation at (212) 300-0375.

For more information about overtime and misclassification please visit our website www.fslawfirm.com.