People have various work schedules in Florida and have different tasks they need to complete during their workday. Employees may need to complete these tasks even if they need to work longer than 8 hours to complete in any given day. Over the course of the workweek, people may end up working longer than 40 hours because they need to work longer on 1 or 2 days during the week.
There are two different types of employees in Florida: exempt employees and nonexempt employees. Employees who are considered nonexempt employees include many different workers. These include retail workers, grocery store workers, various trade workers and others.
Rules for overtime pay
When these employees work longer than 40 hours in a workweek, they need to be paid overtime for all hours worked longer than 40 hours. Overtime pay equates to time and a half, which is the employees’ hourly wage plus half of their hourly wage.
For example, if an employee earns minimum wage, which is currently $10 per hour, works 45 hours in a week, they need to be paid $15 per hour for five hours since that is the number of hours they worked beyond 40 hours.
The other type of employee is exempt employees. They are generally salaried or not necessarily compensated hourly. This type of employee includes executives, administrative professionals, people in sales and some technology positions. These employees must have a minimum salary, but they do not need to be compensated extra if they work more than 40 hours in a week.
If nonexempt employees in Florida are not being paid overtime for their hours beyond 40 hours, they may have a wage and hour claim against their employers. In addition to receiving the compensation to which they were entitled, the employees could be entitled to other damages as a result.
The employers could also face fines and other consequences for the violations of the law. These lawsuits are not always straightforward though and consulting with experienced attorneys may be beneficial.