Author Archives: Robert Norell
Dispatchers for transportation company paid salary for 48 hour work week.
Two dispatchers were paid a salary and required to work 48+ hours per week without receiving overtime compensation. The company classified the dispatchers as “exempt” and failed to pay them any overtime. Robert S. Norell, P.A. filed suit against the company on behalf of the dispatchers alleging that the company misclassified the dispatchers as… Read More »
Restaurant Waiters and Overtime Law
I recently met a waiter who works for a major seafood restaurant chain here in Florida. Ross has been with his current employer (I don’t want to reveal the true name of this well-known restaurant, so we’ll call it ”The Crusty Crab” or “The Crab” for short) for over 4 years and is one of the top waiters. For the past 4 years, Ross has earned approximately $100k annually, even though he admitted to me that he only reports less than half of that. Ross works 6 and 7 days a week…he even bragged to me about not having a day off for the past 3 months. Ross works about 70 to 80 hours per week. Despite all of the overtime hours that he works, Ross doesn’t get any overtime compensation. The reason that he does not get OT compensation is because The Crusty Crab does not allow it. Or should I say, The Crab will not pay it. Truth is, Ross can care less because he is still making good money.
Florida’s Minimum Wage Increased by 12 Cents, to $7.79/hr, effective Jan. 1, 2013
Florida’s minimum wage has increased to $7.79 an hour, up 12 cents. Under a 2004 constitutional amendment, Florida’s minimum wage is recalculated every year and is tied to the inflation rate. The new minimum wage is expected to increase annual incomes of minimum wage workers by about $200 to $400 a year, depending on… Read More »
Florida’s Minimum Wage Increased to $7.31 per hour
Effective June 1, 2011, the Florida minimum wage was increased from $7.25 to $7.31 per hour. Florida’s minimum wage law requires the Agency for Workforce Innovation to calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate each year. This year there is only a $.06 increase. The minimum wage applies to all employees in the state who… Read More »
Recent trends in overtime litigation
The housing industry is upside down. There have been so many homes built by the builders that it has resulted in real estate values tumbling. This has resulted in the mortgage companies losing a lot of business as well. Look at the Countrywide debacle. Countrywide was recently purchased (bailed out) by Bank of America. Countrywide and many other mortgage companies sold a lot of sub prime mortgages with adjustable rates and 3 or 5 year balloon payments. We are now seeing the effect of this with the foreclosure industry booming.
Recent Trends in Defending Wage and Hour Claims
Employees that bring wage claims against their employers for unpaid overtime need to be ready for the employer to pull your web browser records. Virtually all desk jobs have a computer sitting right atop of it. Computer use in the workplace is just so prevalent nowadays that it was just a matter of time before employers started to monitor their employees. They do this with keylogging or spy software. With this software, the employer can see what their employees are doing on their computers while at work. This enables the employer to calculate, to the minute, the number of hours that an employee is working and the number of minutes (or hours) that the employee spends on non-work related internet browsing.
Florida Department of Labor
Where’s the Florida Department of Labor? How can you get in touch with the labor board in Florida? Search all you want, and you’re not going to find it. Go ahead, Google it and see what you find. The real reason is that there is no Florida Department of Labor or Florida Labor Board. There is, however, the Federal Department of Labor (DOL), which has several offices in Florida. But you won’t have any luck getting the Department of Labor to help you with anything but federal (Fair Labor Standards Act) wage violations for unpaid overtime and unpaid minimum wages.
Robert S. Norell, Esq. became a member of the Florida Bar in 1994 and has represented hundreds of clients in all types of employment law cases for the past 20+ years.