Accepted Answer

Deb,

 

I'm real sorry. I did a very intense trial yesterday, and about 9:00, the day's events just caught up with me and I went to bed.

 

There are basically three differences between hourly and salary: (1) salary employees do not receive overtime, (2) salary employees are paid the same amount every pay period, and (3) salary employees do not have to keep track of their time "on the clock". Other than that hourly employees have a better situation.

 

Employers designate certain employees as salary for their own benefit, not the employee's. There are certain "exemptions from the FLSA law on overtime payments, and from what you have described, it sounds as though you should be hourly, because the tasks you listed would be considered front line, not executive/administrative.

 

Also, the thought behind salary is that with the ebb and flow of work, week over week, the time a salaried employee puts in seems to work itself out. For example, if last week you went to the dentist and ended up doing 38 hours for the week, this week you put in 44. For the pay period, you end up with 82, and everything is essentially fair. Being docked for a few hours is not indicative of a true salary position.

 

You can file a claim with the FLSA. If you are actually an hourly employee improperly classified by the employer, you can recover two times the amount of overtime you would have received for the last two year. If the Department of Labor found your employer's actions are willful, the recovery is three times.

 

You should work with a local employment lawyer on this, because they can guide you in dealing with the employer, advise on whether to file a wage claim, etc. There is no substitute for that.

 

Again, real sorry for the late reply, but I hope this helps.

 

Len

 

Please press accept and leave some feedback when you get a chance.

 

 

Expert:	Len
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Accepts:
Answered:	1/27/2009

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15 years experience in employment and criminal Law.