Tennessee Employment Lawyer Blog

In Tennessee and all across the country, when employees go to work each day and work hard, they expect to get paid for the hours they work and expect that their workplace will follow federal laws and guidelines. However, sometimes businesses find ways around paying their employees for the hours they work and may not even follow federal laws considering the hours in which minors are allowed to work. If you or someone you know has worked overtime hours and failed to receive overtime pay, then you should talk to a Tennessee labor overtime lawyer right away. They will hear your case and make sure you get the compensation you are entitled to by law.

In this case, a restaurant chain known as This is It! BBQ and Seafood has been ordered by the federal government to provide $104,000 in back pay to two hundred and thirty of its workers at five locations and was fined $1,900 for allowing minors to work later than allowed by federal law. This action was taken after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division nvestigated the chain restaurant and discovered violations of minimum wage, overtime pay, and record keeping provisions of Fair Labor Standards Act. The investigation found that the company improperly classified employees as being exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and failed to pay them time and a half for hours worked over forty in one work week.

The investigators determined that the employees were not paid minimum wage because the company deducted uniform expenses and lunch breaks. They also discovered that workers who were younger than sixteen were being permitted to work later than 9 p.m. between June 1st and Labor Day and later than 7 p.m. at other times of the year violating federal restrictions for younger workers. Finally, the investigation discovered that the company also failed to keep accurate records of tips earned and hours worked violating the Fair Labor Standards Act record-keeping regulations.

Owner Shelly Anthony did not comment but the company agreed to maintain future compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act by keeping accurate records and paying full and proper wages for all hours worked.

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In Tennessee and all across the United States, employees when they go to work expect to be treated with respect and given the proper pay for the hours that they work. Unfortunately, many companies find ways around paying their employees the overtime they are entitled to by misclassifying them or just failing to pay them for the time altogether. If you or someone you care about feels that you have been improperly paid for the overtime hours you have worked, then you should talk to a Tennessee employment overtime pay lawyer right away. They will hear your case and make sure you get the compensation you are entitled to by law.

According to this case, a district court granted class action status to a lawsuit against AT&T which was filed by BellSouth Telecommunication’s workers who allege that they are owed $1 billion in overtime pay. This decision is for the company’s “First Level” employees who work for AT&T across the country, including in Tennessee and is the third ruling approved for class action status against AT&T following other class action decisions against the company in 2009 and 2010 involving overtime pay.

All three lawsuits claim that AT&T and its subsidiaries violated the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act as well as other state laws by having a company-wide policy to misclassify thousands of the company’s level one managers as being exempt from overtime pay. The complaints in the lawsuits claim that AT&T fails to pay its level one employees for work over forty hours a week and eight hours a day. According to these lawsuits, AT&T also fails to give these employees mandatory meal times and rest breaks and fails to keep accurate records of the hours these employees work.

These lawsuits are seeking that AT&T and their subsidiaries stop their unlawful payment practices and pay all level one managers their unpaid wages and all damages allowed by state and federal wage and hour laws.

Continue reading "Court Granted Class Action Lawsuit against AT&T for Overtime Pay" »