Your work is valuable, which is why you don’t do it for free. If you are eligible under federal or state law, your employer must pay you overtime for every hour you work in excess of 40 hours per week. You must not receive less than 1.5 times your regular rate pay for those extra hours. If your employer is paying you less or refusing to pay you overtime at all, you can fight back by filing a wage claim.
Eligibility
State and federal laws protect workers from unfair compensation. No one deserves to work without getting something in return, which is why most employers in Indiana must pay their employees when they work more than 40 hours per week. However, you must know that not all employers have to pay overtime. Federal law states that an employer is responsible for paying overtime if they have more than $500,000 in gross sales. In Indiana, an employer has to pay it if they have more than 40 employees.
Not all employees have the right to receive overtime pay, either. Federal law states that employees who earn at least $455 per week, are paid on a salary basis and perform job exempt duties are not required to receive overtime pay. The following employees may not receive overtime pay:
- Executive employees (managers who supervise 2 or more employees)
- Administrator employees (accountants, human resource staff, public relations employees, etc.)
- Learned professionals (architects, lawyers, registered nurses, etc.)
- Taxi drivers
Unless you don’t fall into any of these categories, you have the right to ask for overtime pay if you work more than 40 hours per week. In that case, your boss must pay you 1.5 times your average rate pay for every hour you work in excess of 40 hours per week.
Important considerations
If you are eligible, you must receive payment for every extra hour you work. This payment cannot be less than $10.8 per hour, as Indiana’s minimum wage per hour is $7.25. If your employer pays you less than $10.8 per extra hour, they may be breaking federal employment laws.
You must know that overtime applies when you work more than 40 hours per week. You cannot receive overtime only because you worked for more than 8 hours one day. Also, your employer can ask you to work overtime whenever they want to, as long as they pay those extra hours. Additionally, keep in mind that working on Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays does not count as overtime.
Doing justice
If your employer has asked you to work extra time but has not paid you accordingly, you can hold them responsible by filing a wage claim with the Indiana Division of Labor. By doing this, you can receive the wages they owe you plus additional damages for what you had to go through. You must note that you have maximum 3 years to collect unpaid overtime, so make sure you don’t wait too much to file the claim. You have the right to get paid for every hour you work, and you can fight for this payment if your employer refuses to give it to you.
