Workers in the Greater Kansas City area may not be aware of the laws requiring employers to pay their workers for “off-the-clock time.” If your employer is requiring that you preform your job duties while you are off the clock, it is illegal.
One possible scenario is that a secretary at a small business is required to answer the telephone during her lunch breaks. She is not being paid for these 30-minute breaks, yet she is performing one of her usual and customary job duties. She has a possible case for a wage and hour claim.
Another example could be a salesman whose company requires him to attend an annual four-hour training seminar but doesn’t compensate him for his time. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must be paid for time spent attending training seminars, lectures, meetings and other similar programs unless:
— Attendance is voluntary
— It is not job-related
— It is held outside of normal working hours
— No other work is performed simultaneously
Sometimes these disputes arise out of an employer’s ignorance of the law or misinterpreting the terms of the FLSA. Not all disputes wind up in court. Sometimes a strongly-worded letter from an attorney can bring about a fair resolution for the worker.
Our law firm is experienced in interpreting Missouri and federal employment laws. Our attorneys are not afraid to take on big corporations on behalf of our clients. We believe in the rights of the worker to be paid a fair wage for a day’s work, and we work hard to see that our clients are justly compensated for their labors.
