Are You Owed Overtime by Your Employer?
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for restaurants, hotels, caterers and country clubs to withhold overtime pay due waitstaff, bartenders, bellhops and other hospitality industry workers. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), “overtime” typically involves working more than 40 hours a week. Additionally, New York’s Hospitality Wage Order law involves certain overtime rules and regulations that apply to workers in the hospitality industry and their employers. Under 29 U.S.C. § 207 of the FLSA, as well as the terms of the Hospitality Wage Order, employers must pay an employee an overtime rate of “time and a half” for any hours worked over and above a prescribed 40-hour work week.
If you work in the hospitality industry and haven’t received overtime pay owed you, your employer can be held financially liable under the law. To learn more about your rights under the law and how we can help you, contact New York wage and hour attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC, today.
Determining Overtime Pay in the Hospitality Industry
Your employer might ask you to clean up after your shift ends at the country club or wait “a few more tables” until evening rush is over. However, if you work over 40 hours at the end of the week, you are owed time and half your regular rate for any extra hours you worked. This means if your regular rate is, $10 an hour, your employer must pay you $15 for each hour you work beyond your regularly scheduled 40-hour work week: $10 + $5 ($5 is half of your hourly wage) = $15.
So, if you work 40 hours a week, your normal paycheck before taxes and other deductions should be $400. If you work an additional 10 hours of overtime, your overtime pay will be equal to 10 hours x $15, or $150. As such, your weekly paycheck should total $550.
Fighting for the Rights of Workers in the Hospitality Industry
At Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC, our employment law attorneys represent the following kinds of workers in the hospitality industry in regard to overtime pay violations cases:
- Bartenders
- Waiters
- Bussers
- Bellhops
- Bar Backs
- Sommeliers
- Maids / Housekeepers
- Concierges
- Wait Desk Help
We’ve recovered millions of dollars for hospitality industry workers in cases involving cruise lines, hotels, caterers, country clubs and restaurants. We understand how to gather evidence and investigate cases involving overtime pay violations.
Is Your Employer Paying Overtime? Contact Leeds, Morelli & Brown
It’s also important to remember that courts have consistently found that a worker’s immigration or citizenship status has nothing to do with whether or not an employer is required to pay overtime pay. Even if you are an undocumented worker, if you are a qualified employee and eligible for overtime pay, your employer is required to pay you accordingly.
If you work in the hospitality industry and your employer has asked you to work off the clock or has simply refused to pay you overtime due you, contact New York overtime pay violations attorneys at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, PC, today to schedule an appointment to discuss your case.
Located in New York City, as well as Nassau County, the attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC offer high quality legal services and representation to clients throughout the five boroughs of Manhattan, including Wall Street, Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island; and throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long island, including the Northshore, the Southshore, and cities such as Garden City, Carle Place, Hempstead, Mineola, Melville, Westbury, Hicksville, Levittown, Freeport, Massapequa, Valley Stream, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Syosset, Huntington, Bayside, Forest Hills, Manhasset, Whitestone, Commack, Brentwood and Riverhead, New York. Leeds Morelli & Brown also extends its practice throughout all the counties of Nassau and Suffolk County, which includes the East end of Long Island, as well as to The Hamptons.
