The North Carolina Wage and Hour Act shields employees from abusive employment practices. Among its many protections are provisions relating to overtime pay, including consequences for failure to pay overtime. In most cases, employers must pay a worker overtime at one and a half (1 ½) times the normal hourly rate for every hour worked beyond the typical forty (40) hour week. Being a salaried employee does not automatically exempt you from the statute. You can file a civil suit under the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act if your employer violates these terms, and a failure to pay overtime may entitle you to compensation.
Hourly Employees
Computing an overtime rate is relatively easy for hourly employees. For example, an employee who typically earns $8.00 an hour is entitled to $12.00 an hour in overtime. This same employee works 50 hour weeks. If the employee is not compensated at the overtime rate for the additional 10 hours, the employer would owe an additional $40.00. The amount can add up over time.
Non-Exempt
Many types of salaried employees are exempt from the Wage and Hour Act, including executives and professionals. For salaried employees who are not exempt, the calculation is slightly different. Assume an employee works a fifty (50) hour work week. This means their base salary is $10.00 an hour. Multiplying this by one and a half (1 1/2) yields an overtime rate of $15.00. At that rate, 10 hours of extra work total $50.00, and failure to pay overtime can result in significant liability for the employer.
An important consideration in determining whether to proceed against an employer under a Wage and Hour claim is that you may be entitled to “double damages” and attorney’s fees. If your employer does not prove “good faith” in violating the statute, then you recover double whatever your actual damages are. Assume the salaried employee above was denied overtime for twenty (20) weeks; this means he or she would have $4,000.00 of actual damages and could recover a total of $8,000.00. The employer would also have to pay the employee’s attorney’s fees. Therefore, failure to pay overtime has serious financial consequences for employers in North Carolina.
Wage and Hour Attorneys
The unpaid wages lawyers of Maginnis Howard can assist you in recovering unpaid overtime through the filing of a civil lawsuit. We handle North Carolina Wage and Hour claims on a contingency basis, which means that you do not pay any attorney’s fees unless and until we recover on your behalf. We also offer all consultations for Wage and Hour claims free of charge.
Maginnis Howard’s unpaid wages attorneys regularly assist clients across the Carolinas from our Raleigh, Charlotte, and Fayetteville offices. You may send a confidential email regarding your case through our contact page or by phone at (919) 526-0450.
