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Non-Exempt Employee Rights

Have you been manipulated out of overtime pay you were owed? Maybe your employer told you not to clock in until after you completed prep work at your job.

If an employer has violated your non-exempt employee rights, the law offices of GWC Injury Lawyers can help you. Laws regarding exempt and non-exempt workers can be complicated and each case is unique.

Our wage and hour violation attorneys are on your side and can evaluate your claim for free to determine your legal options.


We Win Cases

$359,240.32

Settlement
Workers Compensation

Settlement for an injured union waste hauler, more than twice the insurance company’s initial offer.

$561,007

Workers' Compensation

For a truck driver who fractured a long bone in his foot while delivering a load of metal pipes.

$540,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 38-year-old union carpenter suffered a significant back injury while lifting an aluminum joist.

$500,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 55-year-old construction worker required right shoulder replacement surgery after a jobsite fall.

$425,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A union foreman electrician sustained a neck injury with permanent work restrictions after moving a 1000-pound master bundle of pipes.

$242,657.57

Award
Workers' Compensation

A 60-year-old union carpenter injured his knee and back while working on a remodeling job.

$62,500

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

An employee of a staffing agency slipped on oil and tore his rotator cuff. After surgery, the injured worker was…

$77,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A Union Waste management driver suffered a labral tear and also developed issues in the elbow both of which required…

$252,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 58 y.o operating engineer fell of a ladder and was seriosuly injured. His injuries required three years of medical…

$174,243

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

This case involved a machine operator that was tried and settled over a disputed wage loss due to restrictions that…

$175,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A carpenter suffered a left shoulder injury that resulted in two surgeries and permanent restrictions. The lawyers at GWC obtained…

$85,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client is a spanish-speaking only teacher aide with a low rate who suffered a knee injury at work. Despite…

$120,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 22 y.o worker that received her income mostly from tips broke her tib/fib in a work place accident. While…

$210,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client was a carpenter that suffered a lower back injury that did not require surgery but resulted in permanent…

$135,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 40 year old iron worker fell from a faulty ladder while on a job site. GWC successfully obtained $135,000…

$214,777

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A sheet metal worker suffered a lower back injury that resulted in permanent restrictions after two surgeries.

$225,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A sheet metal worker sustained a left wrist and hand injury while using a hammer drill.

$225,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

The foot of a laborer was run over by a co-worker that was operating a back hoe. The injuries to…

$240,800

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A stationary engineer slipped on a ladder and grabbed onto a pipe to prevent falling. Our client sustained a cervical…

$242,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 39 year old local #1 laborer felt a pop while he was pulling up some carpeting on a job.…

$140,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 41 year old factory worker suffered a back injury while lifting work materials. Both the injury and the accident…

$275,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

An ironworker fell at work and injured his lower back that required a two-level disc replacement. In addition to the…

$278,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 60 year old carpenter fell from a trailer while unloading work materials and injured his non-dominant left arm. While…

$280,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

The team at GWC obtained $280,000 settlement for a 61 year old electrician that sustained a serious shoulder injury while…

$285,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client was a laborer that sustained a serious lower back injury that required surgery. The injury resulted in the…

$300,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Injured electrician and IBEW member. Employer disputed injured electrician’s need for a knee replacement and case went to trial. The…

$310,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 39 year old laborer sustained a back injury that required two surgical procedures. The Petitioner found alternative employment out…

$147,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A window installed stepped off a customer’s porch and injured his left knee. His injury developed into arthritis which prevented…

$398,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 43 year old sheet metal worker sustained multiple injuries after falling at work.

$81,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

An over the road truck driver sustained a serious neck injury when his truck went over a bump on I-57…

$125,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

The Petitioner – a CTA bus driver – accidentally ran over a pedestrian who fell into the bus path. The…

$315,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A construction worker handling heavy pipeline seriously injured his back while lifting a pipe. He required severla surgeries and eventually…

$315,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client was a pipeline construction worker that seriously injured his back while lifting a pipe. He underwent numerous surgeries…

$346,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A carpenter fell while at work and sustained a cervical injury. The settlement that GWC negotiated included a funds set-aside…

$550,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

GWC attorney Joel Block helped to secure more than $550,000 for the injuries sustained by a carpenter after he slipped…

$579,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A sheet metal worker suffered significant injuries and was eventually placed on permanent sedentary work restrictions.

Non-Exempt vs. Exempt Workers

Non-exempt workers are usually paid for each hour they worked in a pay period. They receive overtime according to applicable overtime regulations. Exempt workers do not have jobs that qualify for overtime protections and are generally paid salaries.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

This federal act sets forth standards for employees’ pay, child labor protections, and a national minimum wage. It states that non-exempt workers are required to be paid overtime by their employers when they work more than forty hours a week. A worker may be a non-exempt employee or exempt employee.

The usual rate of overtime pay for a non-exempt employee is generally one-and-a-half times the employee’s usual pay rate for each hour worked over forty hours per week. Also, regarding covered, non-exempt employees, they are to receive the applicable federal minimum wage for all hours worked, according to the FLSA.

Non-Exempt Workers and Employer Abuses

Because exempt employees are expected to contribute however much time needed to complete their work, their compensation does not fluctuate much based on the actual hours that are worked. However, non-exempt employee hours may vary, so they are supposed to be paid more per hour for each hour worked over forty hours a week. Employers may sometimes want to keep their non-exempt employees’ hours down, so they might resort to unscrupulous business practices to do so.

The following are four abuses:

Off-hours duties Employers may state that non-exempt workers have to get to the workplace before clocking in and do prep work before or after hours. Maybe a meeting or mandatory training is conducted off the clock. These practices are not right, as you are not receiving the proper amount of wages for completed work.

Additional work from home If your job dictates that you respond to texts, answer emails, or perform any additional work after you go leave the jobsite, you may be entitled to be paid for those hours.

Volunteering If your boss says that you must volunteer and makes it a requirement that you work for free, you are most likely supposed to be paid.

Working through lunch If your employer acts like he or she does not see you are working through lunch or after clocking out, and you work extra hours, you may be entitled to overtime.

Speak to an attorney at GWC Injury Lawyers to see what pay to which you may be entitled if any of the above scenarios have happened to you.

Tips for Keeping Track of Overtime Pay

  1. Keep a log. Write down your hours in a notebook or use an online program like Word or Excel to document your work.
  2. Learn more about violations. When in doubt about your overtime pay, the Department of Labor website can help you learn more about potential overtime violations.
  3. Contact a lawyer. A law firm like GWC Injury Lawyers may help you initiate a lawsuit if your employer has violated your overtime requirements. You may be able to receive compensation for court costs and fees in addition to the pay owed to you.