Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that it is finding “unacceptably high numbers of [wage and hour] violations in the oil and gas industry,” and “pattern of industry employers failing to pay workers legally required overtime.”[1] Common violations include: the mistaken classification of salaried employees as exempt;[2] not properly calculating employees’ regular rates for the purposes of determining overtime, such as failing to include certain bonuses; failing to pay for time spent working off-the-clock; and paying flat daily/shift rates without regard to how many hours the employees worked.[3] Even employees that earn more than $100,000 per year are often incorrectly classified as exempt, because the employer fails to satisfy all elements of the exemption.[4]
In addition to employees that work directly for oil & gas companies; workers in related businesses may also be underpaid, such as water and stone haulers, trucking, lodging, staffing companies and other types of oil and gas supporting trades.
If you work for an oil and gas company, or if you work in an industry related to the oil and gas business; and if you work more than 40 hours a week, then call us for a free consultation to determine whether you are being paid properly. Remember, even if you receive “overtime” compensation, the amount of overtime paid may not be properly calculated by your employer or by the staffing agency.
Also remember that wage and hour claims are typically subject to a two year statute of limitations. This is sometimes extended to three years, but only under certain circumstances. This means that as time goes by, historical weeks of earned wages are barred from recovery by the statute of limitations.
Call us today at 800-274-5297.
(Advertising Material: This Notice is for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice).
[1] Oil, gas industry workers in 9 states owed more than $1.6M in back wages ongoing Labor Department enforcement initiative finds
[2] See also To Be or Not to Be . . . exempt. I’m salaried, so I shouldn’t get overtime, right? Sorry, that is wrong.
[3] Oil, gas industry workers in 9 states owed more than $1.6M in back wages ongoing Labor Department enforcement initiative finds; and US Department of Labor finds oil and gas industry workers in New Mexico, west Texas underpaid by more than $1.3M
[4] Fact Sheet #17H: Highly-Compensated Workers and the Part 541-Exemptions Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
