Bank of America Lawsuit alleges Unpaid Overtime, Employee Misclassification

A Miami man has sued his former employee, the Bank of America, accusing the financial institution of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying him as a non-exempt employee and denying him overtime pay.

In his unpaid overtime lawsuit, Felipe R. alleges he was misclassified as an assistant vice president when he was actually a non-exempt employee during his tenure with the bank from July 2011 until September 2013. His pay was $31.25 per hour.

Despite working overtime, at least five hours per week beginning in February 2012, Bank of America never paid him overtime, he claims. Now, according to the unpaid overtime lawsuit, Bank of America owes the plaintiff $19,459.35 in unpaid overtime and liquidated damages.

Unpaid Overtime

According to USA Today, in 2011, unpaid overtime lawsuits were up 32 percent from three years earlier:

“Workers’ main grievance is that they had to put in more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay through various practices: They were forced to work off the clock. Their jobs were misclassified as exempt from overtime requirements. Because of smartphones and other technology, work bled into their personal time.”

The Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping, and youth employment standards for employees in both the private sector as well as in federal, state, and local governments. Nonexempt workers are entitled to be paid at least $7.25 per hour, which became effective on July 24, 2009.

The FLSA is administered by the Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division within the U.S. Department of Labor.

The federal Fair Labor and Standards Act established a national minimum wage and since 1938 has operated under an eight-hour a day, 40-hour workweek. For non-exempt employees, any work above that threshold is subject to overtime at a rate of time-and-a-half, or 1.5 times the worker’s regular pay. Overtime pay is not required for work on weekends, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless the work constitutes actual overtime on those days.

The FLSA exists in conjunction with state minimum wage laws. A worker is entitled to the higher minimum wage in the event that they are subject to both state and federal laws.

Employers are also required to display an official poster outlining the Fair Labor and Standards Act requirements as well as keep employee time and pay records.

The FLSA strictly governs child labor and prohibits children under age 16 from working during school hours, as well as children under 18 from performing certain jobs. The provisions are “designed to protect the educational opportunities of minors and prohibit their employment in jobs and under conditions detrimental to their health or well-being,” according to the FLSA.

Age 14 is the minimum for most non-agricultural work, according to the FLSA, but children may “deliver newspapers; perform in radio, television, movie, or theatrical productions; work in businesses owned by their parents (except in mining, manufacturing or hazardous jobs); and perform babysitting or perform minor chores around a private home,” the FLSA states.

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