Practice Area
Employment & Wage Claims
Federal wage and hour litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) protects workers who are denied minimum wage, overtime, or lawful pay practices. The FLSA sets nationwide rules for minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor protections, and it applies to most employers engaged in interstate commerce.
The FLSA sets a floor, not a ceiling. Employers cannot contract around these rights, and workers cannot waive them. These issues arise across healthcare, retail, food service, education, logistics, construction, and gig-adjacent roles. Helios Law helps employees evaluate wage claims, document violations, and pursue recovery through individual or collective actions. Schedule a wage and hour consultation.
What qualifies as a federal wage and hour claim?
You may have a claim when your employer fails to pay at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, fails to pay overtime at one and one-half times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, or uses policies that shift labor costs onto workers. Claims also arise when employers do not keep accurate time and pay records as required by law.
Common FLSA violations
Wage and hour violations often include practices such as:
- Failing to pay overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek
- Requiring pre-shift or post-shift work without pay
- Automatically deducting meal breaks that were never taken
- Paying a flat salary or day rate regardless of hours worked
- Discouraging accurate time reporting or altering time records
Misclassification issues are also widespread, including:
- Labeling employees as exempt without meeting duty and salary tests
- Treating workers as 1099 contractors despite employer control
- Assuming salary pay eliminates overtime rights
- Using job titles to avoid overtime eligibility
Unpaid overtime and off-the-clock work often show up in:
- Required training, meetings, or travel time
- On-call time with tight restrictions on personal use
- Remote work after hours on phones or laptops
- Mandatory pre-shift setup or post-shift cleanup
- Unrealistic productivity targets that require unpaid labor
Pay schemes and recordkeeping problems can include:
- On-call stipends that do not reflect actual hours worked
- Piece-rate or flat-rate pay without overtime premiums
- Missing, inaccurate, or incomplete time and wage records
- Improper tip-credit or pooling practices in service roles
Do I have an FLSA wage claim?
You may have a wage claim if your pay does not match the hours you actually worked. Consider the following:
- Did you work more than 40 hours in a week without overtime pay?
- Were you paid a salary but lacked true managerial or professional duties?
- Did your employer control your schedule, tools, or work method?
- Do your pay stubs or time records look incomplete or inconsistent?
- Are you within the two-year (or three-year willful) time limit?
Each unpaid paycheck can trigger its own deadline, so timing matters. Speak with Helios Law about your wage claim.
What should I do if I suspect wage theft?
Start by documenting your hours and preserving records, then get legal advice before confronting your employer. Helpful steps include:
- Track hours worked and duties performed
- Save pay records and employer communications
- Preserve schedules, training logs, and policy documents
- Avoid signing releases without legal review
- Talk with a wage and hour attorney
Document your hours and duties
Keep a personal log of start and end times, breaks, and tasks. Courts can rely on reasonable estimates when employers fail to keep accurate records.
Preserve pay and policy records
Save pay stubs, direct deposit statements, schedules, timekeeping screenshots, and written policies. Emails or texts about after-hours work can also be important evidence.
Get legal advice before signing anything
Do not sign releases, arbitration agreements, or separation documents without review. A lawyer can assess whether you have individual or collective claims.
What compensation is available in FLSA cases?
Workers who prevail under the FLSA may recover unpaid minimum wage or overtime, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling the recovery. Courts can also award attorneys' fees and costs, so employees are not required to pay out of pocket to enforce their rights.
Will an FLSA case go to court?
Many wage and hour claims resolve through settlement once records and policies are evaluated. Cases may proceed in court when employers dispute hours, classification, or company-wide practices. The FLSA allows collective actions, where similarly situated workers opt in to the case and each person proves their damages.