Employment Lawyers Group Services

Overtime Attorney

Employees start looking for an overtime attorney when they are fed up not receiving overtime for all hours worked, when they are about to leave their job, or once they have already left. Due to statutes of limitation it is not a good idea to wait until a job is over to sue for overtime. It is illegal to retaliate against an employee if they inquire why overtime has not been paid, or they sue for overtime. Employees who are fired for asking about overtime, or pursuing a case for overtime can sue for wrongful termination. However, many cases exist in which employees use lawyers to obtain past due overtime while the employee is still employed. There are many rules concerning overtime. Without a lawyer employees are ill-advised to try to determine how much they are owed, or whether they are even entitled to overtime.

Get Your Overtime Case Started. Call 310-842-8600 For An Overtime Lawyer

Issues in determining whether overtime is owed include:

Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Job Duties and whether more than 50% of the job is spent on exempt work
Whether a work day is 8, 10, or 12 hours
What job the employee has
What the employer’s reasonable, realistic expectations of the job are
How much money the employee is paid
Whether the employee earns bonuses
Whether the employee earns piece rates
What industry the employee works in
When the employer’s business day has been defined to start and end (which most employees are never told)
If the employee is on-call and those hours should be counted as hours worked
How many consecutive days without a day off has the employee been forced to work?
Has the employee been paid their normal rate of pay for the overtime hours worked?
Was the employee paid cash for the overtime hours, and at what rate?
Is the employee supposed to be paid prevailing wage, and if so is overtime being paid at that rate?
Did the employee sign an alternative work week agreement, and is it valid?

Employees should sue for overtime if they are owed more than $5,000 in overtime.

Overtime lawsuits are often complex. They involve one or more of the above issues which employees have generally never heard of. Get a wage lawyer to help, call 310-842-8600.

Not Paid Overtime

When an employee is not paid overtime, besides merely being owed overtime, quite a few additional Labor Code penalties exist. These penalties may include up to 30 days of pay. Second, a $100.00 fine for each paycheck overtime was not correctly itemized, or paid. Third, PAGA penalties exist. These are penalties in which the employee can obtain $50.00 for each violation, for each paycheck. Interest on past due overtime must also be paid. If more than 12 hours are worked in a day double time is owed. Double time is also owed on the 7 consecutive work day if each of the 7 consecutive days were 8 hour days.

Employers who lose lawsuits for overtime pay will have to pay the employee’s reasonable attorney fees and costs. Often times these attorney fees and costs exceed the amount of unpaid overtime. Employers are aware of these facts, and so lawsuits for overtime often settle for more than the mere value of the employee’s unpaid overtime.

When an employee has not been paid overtime, in addition to their overtime wages at one and a half times their typical hourly rate that includes certain bonuses and piece rates if any, a failure to properly pay overtime may lead to:

$100 a paycheck fines
a penalty of up to 30 days of pay including all benefits
multiple PAGA penalties of $50 per statutory violation for a California Labor Code that only provides a remedy for the government to collect
Hours past 12 in a day are due at double time rates
Work on the 7th consecutive day may also be subject to double time
Interest
Reasonable attorney fees and costs of suit

Sue For Overtime

Employees should sue for overtime if they are owed more than $5,000 in overtime. Remember, with penalties $5,000 in overtime might mean the employer owes $12,000 or more. Small overtime disputes for total damages of $5,000-$20,000 should be capable of being negotiated without extensive litigation.

If an employee is only owed a few thousand for overtime, and other employees were subjected to the same overtime abuse, the Employment Lawyers Group might take the lawsuit as a group lawsuit, Private Attorney General (PAGA) action, or class action. The employee who agrees to act as the class representative might receive a service award. Service awards are partially intended to compensate the class representative for the time they spend acting as a class representative. The court must approve this request for compensation for acting as a class representative. The Employment Lawyers Groups has not had much trouble in getting courts to agree to service awards of $5,000 for multiple employees who agree to represent a class of employees suing for wage theft. Likewise, $3,000 service awards for multiple employees have been obtained. There are, however, examples of $10,000 and $15,000 service awards for being a class representative, but they are on the high side.

If the employee is a present employee of the company they are suing, it is illegal to retaliate against them for bringing the lawsuit. The larger the group is whom sues, the stronger the case, and the harder for an employer to even consider retaliation. Luckily, the Employment Lawyers Group has never had a situation where they had to sue the employer for retaliation after a lawsuit was filed for unpaid overtime.

The Employment Lawyers Group has recovered $50,000 to approximately $275,000 for a single employee’s overtime claims. Some overtime claims are large. However, every case is unique to its own facts so this is not a guarantee nor prediction of what might happen on a new overtime case.

Case Samples

$18,402,868 Jury verdict for male visually harassed and subject to crude comments by a female manager

$1,150,000 Unpaid commissions of two plaintiffs

$875,000 For 4 oil field service industry workers whose times worked were not recorded on timesheets and were on-call

$800,000 Controlled stand by class action settlement

$800,000 For mis-classified independent contractors

$775,000 For small class action of employees not allowed meal breaks or cell phone reimbursements while caring for dependent adults

$750,000 Disability discrimination settlement for employee who had heart problems

$750,000 Sub-Minimum wage class action settlement

$675,000 Sexual harassment in a warehouse

$672,500 For sexual harassment at a truck stop

$539,584 Myles v. Wellpoint Termination of Employment Due to Disability and Workers Compensation Injury

$510,000 Class action settlement of 125 workers on overtime claims

$500,000 Unpaid days of work to 4 oil rig workers

$490,000 For sex and age discrimination of women

$465,000 Sexual harassment at a gas station

$460,000 Unpaid hours of work for security officers & PAGA Violations

$450,000 Settlement for 2 on-call workers

$450,000 Paystub violations

$450,000 Being on controlled standby

$430,000 Settlement in 2024 dollars for a Los Angeles warehouse worker forced to violate her medical restrictions imposed by pregnancy

$400,000 Recovery following arbitration win for 4 employees who worked off the clock

$400,000 Following arbitration win for meal & rest breaks for 3 employees

$400,000 Off-the-clock work for 5 employees

$365,000 Vasquez v. Del Rio Sanitarium Pregnancy Discrimination Case - Following Jury Trial & Appeal

$365,000 Sexual harassment of a delivery driver

$365,000 After defendant lost their appeal - pregnancy case - Jury Trial

$360,000 For missed meal and rest breaks, and overtime for 3 employees, and PAGA penalties for less than 25

$350,000 To 2 employees in vacation rental business working off-the-clock overtime

$350,000 Due to fixed bonus pay not figured into overtime for a directional driller

$350,000 For controlled standby and overtime for one employee

$350,000 Nurse mis-classified as independent contractor who was on-call

$350,000 For directional driller whose fixed rate bonuses were not calculated into his overtime rate

$350,000 For 2 employees in the vacation rental business who worked off-the-clock, on-call & PAGA

$350,000 For prevailing wage and paystub itemizations

$315,000 Sexual harassment of a lesbian woman by straight man

$315,000 Sexual harassment of a pizza delivery driver

$307,345 For 2 hospital employees oncall

$305,000 Wrongful termination of 2 sales people

$305,000 For 2 IT trouble shooters oncall at a major hospital

$302,000 Controlled standby pay for two telecommunication workers in a hospital

$300,000 Verdict of punitive damages in wrongful termination case due to employee's refusal to work without rest breaks

$300,000 Post trial verdict for wrongful termination settlement and minor rest break violations

$300,000 Multiple Worker Claims for Unpaid Wages for Oil Gauge and Calibration Inspectors on Docked Coastal Vessels

$275,000 Unpaid minimum wage, overtime double and double time due to on call work for two technicians at a radio/television station

$270,000 Sexual harassment & employment termination

$260,000 For controlled stand by pay

$260,000 For sexual harassment in a supermarket

$250,000 For 2 oil field service technicians not paid overtime

$250,000 For radiology technician on-call and small PAGA group

$250,000 For whistle-blower about unpaid overtime

$246,000 Breach of fiduciary duty arbitration award involving disability discrimination

$232,000 Male on male sexual harassment won at a binding arbitration

$225,000 Sexual Harassment of a Waitress (No Termination Involved)

$225,000 For two kitchen workers sexually harassed

$225,000 Sexual harassment by store customers

$206,151 Larson v. VXI Same Sex Sexual Harassment

$205,000 Unpaid wages, overtime, labor code section 2699 penalties- arbitration award for multiple plaintiffs

$205,000 For multiple plaintiffs

$200,000 For on-call work, retaliation, forced to quit security officer

$200,000 For prevailing wage and FMLA violations

$200,000 For PAGA violations and sexual harassment

$200,000 Race Discrimination towards Latinos

$200,000 Acts of sexual harassment by CEO

$200,000 For a worker fired due to medical issues & complaints of discrimination

$200,000 For a sales woman in her 60s, age discrimination

$195,000 For Whistle Blower

$193,500 Sexual Harassment by a registered sex offender

$193,250 Sexual harassment by a sex offender

$190,000 Sexual Harassment in the medical coding industry

$190,000 Sexual harassment without a job termination

$185,857 Jewish lawyer discriminated against due to religion

$185,000 For sexual harassment of a woman 35 years older than the harasser

$182,500 Fired during cancer treatment

$180,000 Cancer discrimination and termination due to recovery from cancer

$180,000 Controlled standby pay claims of oil field service employee

$180,000 Controlled standby pay

$175,000 Sexual harassment lawsuit

$175,000 PAGA settlement due to missed meal and rest breaks in a hotel’s kitchens

$175,000 Failure to pay minimum wage & overtime of 3 strip club workers

$175,000 Unpaid overtime of 2 limo drivers of a small company

$175,000 Minor issues of pregnancy discrimination in fast food restaurant, lack of rest breaks

$175,000 Wrongful Termination of Financial Whistleblower

$175,000 PAGA settlement resort staff who worked off-the-clock

$174,250 Missed meal and rest breaks

$170,000 Off the clock work by nonexempt administrator at non-profit

$166,250 Racial harassment at a big box store

$165,000 Wrongful termination and whistleblower

$165,000 For a car dealership manager denied baby bonding and CFRA Leave

$162,500 Failure to pay commissions, retaliation when went to Labor Board

$162,000 Sexual harassment at a home owner’s Association

$160,000 For 3 oil field employees denied meal breaks, worked off-the-clock

$160,000 Sexual harassment by managers of car lot

$160,000 Auto dealership sexual harassment by text message

$155,000 Whistle blower at construction site

$153,000 Camarillo woman demeaned due to her Christianity

$150,000 Sexual harassment to two kitchen workers at a resort

$150,000 Race harassment at an oil refinery

$150,000 Wrongful termination of social worker reporting patient abuse

$150,000 Mental disability & termination of CFO

$150,000 Cancer discrimination & wrongful termination of waitress

$150,000 Disability discrimination & termination

$150,000 Wrongful termination of C.N.A. in assisted living facility who blew whistle

$150,000 Job Termination of salesperson with cancer

$150,000 Settlement for failure to reinstate after maternity leave

$150,000 Cancer discrimination & termination of waitress Wrongful Termination of Site Manager

$150,000 Sexual harassment of an eight-teen year old restaurant worker

$150,000 Sexual harassment by a manager of an adult daycare program

$150,000 Job not held open during cancer treatment

$150,000 CNA complained about rats

$150,000 Forced to quit due to sexual harassment

$145,000 Settlement for an office manager whose Northridge employer would not allow her to take leave from work due to pregnancy

$140,000 Off-the-clock work, breach of contract to pay hourly wage to nurse

$140,000 Not Accommodated and Fired for Mental Disability Leave

$137,930 Robinson v. Mantra - Binding Arbitration Award in a Pregnancy Discriminations

$137,500 Failure to reinstate after FMLA

$135,000 Aerospace executive whistle blower

$130,000 Employee fired for refusing to falsify records in lawsuit

$127,500 Illegally required medical examination adversely affecting a disabled employee

$127,500 Wrongfully terminated driver who complained his truck was unsafe

$127,450 Improper inquiry about medical abilities

$125,450 Retail sales manager terminated after complaining about national origin harassment by coworker

$125,000 Minor sexual harassment

$125,000 Sexual harassment at a fast food restaurant

$125,000 Sexual harassment of a drug counselor

$125,000 Pregnancy discrimination case & wrongful termination -

$125,000 Wrongful termination

$125,000 Wrongful termination & minor labor code violations

$125,000 Breach of contract, unpaid wages in the web industry

$125,000 For employee who quit after being misclassified and not receiving overtime.

$125,000 Pregnancy discrimination & termination

$125,000 Non-payment of wages to CEO

$125,000 Age discrimination during layoff

$125,000 High tech employer stopped paying the agreed to sum

$120,000 Unpaid wages for tow truck drivers

$120,000 Sexually harassed maintenance supervisor by another male

$120,000 Insurance professional terminated for taking California Family Care Leave (FMLA)

$120,000 Racial Discrimination of a warehouse worker

$120,000 Male on male sexual harassment Unpaid wages, overtime, labor code section 2699 penalties- arbitration award of over

$120,000 For race discrimination

$117,702 Disability discrimination, FMLA, and termination of $10.00 an hour employee in binding arbitration

$117,500 Pregnancy discrimination & termination ($24,000 loss of earnings)

$115,616 Signal Hill Hindu made fun of due to his religion

$115,000 Pregnancy discrimination & termination of customer service employee

$115,000 Sexual harassment of car saleswoman minor unpaid commissions

$115,000 Sexual harassment of car saleswoman & minor unpaid commissions

$112,023 Wrongful termination of social worker during trial

$110,000 (minor lost wages) Cancer discrimination & employment termination

$109,500 Unpaid prevailing wages for 2 employees of a small company

$107,500 Wrongfully terminated security manager who let his subordinates know they had rights to meal breaks

$105,500 Sexual harassment of a lesbian aerospace worker by a man who wanted to turn her straight

$105,000 Overtime due computer professional

$105,000 Fired After Depression Leave

$103,145 Refusal to accommodate pregnant warehouse worker

$102,500 Family Care Leave Act violations & termination ($20,000 loss of earnings)

$102,500 Sexual harassment of a janitor

$102,500 Sexual harassment of a waitress (no termination involved)

$101,500 Sexual harassment of a janitor

$100,850 Sexual harassment by restaurant manager

$100,000 Termination of Mechanic’s Employment in Violation of California Family Rights Act (California FMLA)

$100,000 Wrongful termination of ambulance driver who blew the whistle

$100,000 Fired Due to Age of FMLA Leave

We Advance Court Costs.
All Cases Are Taken On A Contingency.
We are only paid if we win!
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