Overtime Calculator - Exemptions
Below is a list of common exemptions regarding overtime pay - If you believe you are entitled to overtime, we can help you calculate your overtime and recover it from your employer. COMMON EXEMPTIONS Commissioned sales employees of retail or service establishments are exempt from overtime if more than half of the employee's earnings come from commissions and the employee averages at least one and one-half times the minimum wage for each hour worked. Click here to view the regulation. Computer professionals: Section 13(a)(17) of the FLSA provides that certain computer professionals paid at least $27.63 per hour are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA. Drivers, driver's helpers, loaders and mechanics are exempt from the overtime pay provisions of the FLSA if employed by a motor carrier, and if the employee's duties affect the safety of operation of the vehicles in transportation of passengers or property in interstate or foreign commerce. Click here to view the regulation. Farmworkers employed on small farms are exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions of the FLSA. For the specific regulations on this exemption, click here. Young workers employed on small farms, with parental consent, are also exempt from the child labor provisions of the FLSA. For more information on exemptions from the child labor provisions of the FLSA in agriculture, click the underlined text. Other farmworkers are exempt from the FLSA's overtime provisions. For the specific regulation, click here. Salesmen, partsmen and mechanics employed by automobile dealerships are exempt from the overtime pay provisions of the FLSA. To view the specific regulation, click here. Seasonal and recreational establishments: Employees employed by certain seasonal and recreational establishments are exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions of the FLSA. To view the applicable regulation, click here. Executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees: (as defined in Department of Labor regulations) and who are paid on a salary basis are exempt from both the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the FLSA Contact us today for a free overtime evaluation - (973) 920-7888. Staples Settles Unpaid Overtime Claim for $42 Million
Staples agreed to settle in the amount of $42 million for numerous wage-and-hour class actions based on its misclassification of assistant store managers as exempt. After several years of litigation and 12 class actions filed in various districts, the settlement resolves claims going back to 2002. The settlement has been approved by the parties and is subject to the approval of the district court judge. Dated: April 21, 2010 - Castronovo & McKinney What Is a Harassment, Discrimination or Retaliation Case Worth?
Predictably, the answer is: it depends. But there are some guidelines. Broadly speaking, every harassment, discrimination, or retaliation case in New Jersey has three components of recovery: compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees. Compensatory damages are designed to pay a plaintiff for her loss. This includes lost pay and emotional suffering. Lost pay is fairly easy to calculate: take what you were earning in your old job, figure out how long you were unemployed, and then determine if you are earning more or less in your new job. That's called "back pay." The law also allows for "front pay" in certain situations; front pay is lost salary into the future after a jury enters a verdict. Typically, a successful plaintiff is fortunate to get months to a few years of front pay.
Compensatory damages for emotional suffering are difficult to predict and have a wide range from jury verdicts. For example, sexual harassment verdicts in New Jersey have awarded as little as $5,000 and as much as $750,000 for emotional distress. The basic rule is that a plaintiff can recover more emotional distress damages if he or she has sought counselling or medical treatment for depression or anxiety. Emotional distress awards usually do not exceed $250,000 and frequently are under $150,000. Things get even more complicated because a judge is allowed to reduce any damage award he or she finds excessive and emotional suffering awards are usually an area where judges reduce large verdicts through a procedure called remittitur. Punitive damages offer the kinds of awards that make headlines. When people read about the $2 million verdict for the woman who spilled a cup of McDonald's coffee on her lap or the man who got $4 million for a scratch on his BMW, they are reading about a large punitive damages award. (Both of those verdicts were reversed on appeal as excessive -- but those reversals did not make headlines!) Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages are not designed to compensate someone for her own loss. Rather, punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for its illegal conduct and to deter it from behaving that way in the future. In the employment law context, it is estimated that juries award punitive damages in less than 5% of all cases. That's because punitive damages can be awarded only where a jury has found "clear and convincing evidence" that a defendant wronged the plaintiff maliciously or through reckless disregard for the plaintiff's rights. Like emotional distress awards, judges sometimes reduce large punitive damages awards from juries. Finally, most of the employment laws in New Jersey mandate that a defendant must pay a plaintiff's costs of litigation (attorneys' fees, court reporters, filing fees, experts, and the like). The reason for this is controversial but logical: policymakers view discrimination, harassment, and retaliation suits as advancing important public goals -- such as civil rights or public safety -- and lawmakers want to encourage experienced attorneys to take the cases of employment law plaintiffs, most of whom cannot afford to pay over $100,000 to litigate a case for two years. This "levels the playing field" where wealthy corporate defendants can hire competent attorneys to litigate for years and those attorneys get paid each month whether they win or lose the case. Defendants frequently consider the risks of having to pay attorneys' fees when they weigh settling or trying a case. Given all these factors, most employment law cases settle before trial. The risks and costs of a jury trial for both sides usually make settlement the intelligent option. Dated: April 20, 2010 - Castronovo & McKinney - Paul Castronovo Pregnancy Discrimination in New Jersey
Pregnancy discrimination in New Jersey can include all of the following adverse employment actions taken by an employer: (1) Refusing to hire a pregnancy woman because she is pregnant; (2) Firing or demoting a pregnant woman because she is pregnant (or has announced Our New Jersey Employment lawfirm receives numerous calls a week from pregnant women who have been treated differently at work because of one reason -- they are pregnant. Sometimes the extremely successful and highly ranked woman becomes pregnant and later finds herself part of a company wide reduction-in-force or no longer considered to be the top performer she has always been. This is illegal and a violation of NJ's Law Against Discrimination. Please call us today for a free confidential consultation regarding your rights. Dated: April 20, 2010 - Castronovo & McKinney - Tom McKinney |
I'm An At-Will Employee in NJ -- Can I Get Severance Pay?
New Jersey is an at-will employment state. This means that you can be fired by your employer for any or no reason whatsoever at anytime for a legal reason. However, being an at-will employee does not prevent you from obtaining a severance package from your employer. Your employer may have a policy entitling you to a certain amount of severance pay (you should review your handbook or company policies). Also, your employer may want to prevent you making any disparaging comments about them. Dated: April 19, 2010 - Castronovo & McKinney, LLC - Tom McKinney Is My Severance Package Negotiable?
Your employer will push you to accept the severance package offered by the Company immediately without making any revisions, changes or including additional items that you could receive. We recommend that you do NOT sign a severance agreement until you have had the time to think about your decision and discuss it with an employment lawyer. You should tell your employer that you need time to think. Most severance agreements include provisions which require waiver of certain claims. If you are waiving the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and/or the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act require that you have at least 21 days to consider the severance agreement and 7 days to revoke the agreement after singing it. Accordingly, your employer cannot withdraw the severance offer. This will allow you the time to meet with an employment attorney or conduct research on your own regarding some additional items that you may be able to negotiate with the employer to include in your severance agreement. Our firm has successfully negotiated increases in the amount of severance and various other items that were important to our clients. Please contact us if you received a severance package. Dated: April 15, 2010 - Castronovo & McKinney - Tom McKinney - Severance Lawyers |
