If you work more than 40 hours in a workweek and you are not exempt, federal law and Maryland law both require your employer to pay you one and a half times your regular rate for the extra hours. If you were not paid, you may be able to recover the unpaid wages and, in many cases, an additional amount on top.
Federal claims generally have to be filed within two years, or three if the violation was willful, and every week that passes can put older pay periods out of reach. This page covers the basics. Whether you are owed overtime depends on your job duties and how you are paid, which is what a free case review is for.
This page is about unpaid wages and overtime. We do not handle workplace harassment or discrimination claims.
The basic overtime rule
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Maryland Wage and Hour Law set the same core rule: hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at one and a half times the regular rate. A few points trip people up:
- It is counted week by week. An employer cannot average a 50-hour week with a 30-hour week to avoid overtime.
- "Voluntary" time still counts. If your employer knows or should know you are working, that time is work time, whether or not anyone asked you to stay.
- Off-the-clock work counts. Setting up before a shift, closing duties after clocking out, answering work messages at home and required training can all be hours worked.
- You cannot waive it. An agreement to work overtime for straight pay, or for no pay, does not remove the right to be paid.
Who qualifies for overtime, and who does not
Some employees are exempt from overtime. The common exemptions cover certain executive, administrative and professional employees, and they usually require both a minimum salary paid on a salary basis and job duties that actually fit the exemption.
Job titles do not decide it. An "assistant manager" who spends the day running a register and stocking shelves may not be exempt at all. Being paid a salary does not decide it either. What matters is what you actually do and how you are actually paid, and that is where many overtime claims start.
The salary level for these exemptions has been the subject of federal rule changes and litigation, so we check the current figure for the period your claim covers rather than relying on a number from a website.
Misclassified as an independent contractor
Overtime law protects employees, not independent contractors. Some employers call workers contractors, pay them on a 1099 and never pay overtime, even though the workers are employees in every way that counts.
The label on the paperwork is not the answer. The question is the real working relationship: who controls how and when the work is done, whether you work only for this business, who supplies the tools, and whether your work is part of the business's ordinary operations. If you have been treated as a contractor but work like an employee, ask us. Misclassification can also affect other rights, including workers' compensation if you are hurt on the job.
What you may be able to recover
- The unpaid overtime itself, the difference between what you were paid and what you were owed
- Liquidated damages under federal law and the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, generally an additional amount equal to the unpaid overtime, which a court can reduce if the employer shows it acted in good faith and reasonably believed it was paying correctly
- Up to three times the unpaid wages under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law, where a court finds the wages were withheld without a bona fide dispute
- Attorney fees and costs, which these laws allow a court to award to a worker who succeeds
These laws overlap, and you generally cannot collect twice for the same unpaid hours. Which law and which remedy fit your situation depends on the facts, so talk to us rather than counting on any particular multiple.
Proving your hours
Employers are required to keep accurate records of the hours their employees work. If your employer did not, that usually counts against the employer, not you, and a reasonable estimate of your hours can be used.
- Keep your own record of the hours you work each day, starting now.
- Save pay stubs, schedules and time-clock screenshots you already have.
- Keep texts and emails that show when you were working, such as messages sent before or after your shift.
- Write down the names of coworkers who work the same hours under the same pay practice.
Do not take company documents you are not authorized to have. Ask us first.
You are protected from retaliation
Federal and Maryland law both prohibit an employer from firing or otherwise punishing an employee for complaining about unpaid wages or for bringing a wage claim. If you were cut from the schedule, demoted or let go after raising overtime, tell us, because that can be a separate claim.
Under federal law, coworkers affected by the same pay practice can join one case, but each person has to give written consent to join.
Deadlines
Federal overtime claims generally have to be filed within two years of each underpaid paycheck, or three years if the violation was willful. Maryland wage claims generally follow a three-year limit. Because the clock runs from each paycheck, the oldest weeks drop off as time passes.
You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor or the Maryland Department of Labor. How an agency complaint interacts with a lawsuit, and which route suits your claim, is something to talk through with us before you choose.
