Oil and Gas Employees Can Qualify for Overtime Compensation

Many oil and gas employees may not have received proper overtime compensation even if they have received bonuses.

Allegations that the lack of overtime pay is a systemwide problem in the oil and gas industry recently have come to light. One of the issues is workers may be misclassified as exempt employees in order for a company to avoid paying overtime wages. Denying proper overtime pay is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Oil and gas employees also allege they have been misclassified as independent contractors even though their hours, duties and procedures are under the control of the companies, which would often qualify them as direct employees and not as independent contractors.

Many oil and gas workers are needed more than 40 hours a week, sometimes even more than 100 hours per week. Federal labor laws require that for non-exempt employees, overtime compensation equal to time and one-half the regular rate of pay be paid for such mandatory overtime.

If you are employed in any of the following positions, you may be owed money for overtime wages you have not received:

• Pipeline inspector
• Top drive mechanic
• Closed loop operator
• Field engineer
• Tankerman
• Wireline operator
• Field coordinator
• Directional driller
• Top drive technician
• Service supervisor
• MWD or LWD engineer
• Tool pusher
• Field specialist
• Field operator
• Solids control worker
• Pumpers
• Lease operators

Some of these positions are paid a day rate. Day rates are not necessarily illegal, but federal courts have found wage violations in such rates when an employee works less than eight hours in one day and on the other end of the spectrum when employees work more than 40 hours per week. Some companies have been found in violation of FLSA overtime laws by not compensating day-rate employees the proper time and one-half for hours worked more than 40 in one workweek.

Oil and Gas Employees Paid Bonuses Still Deserve Overtime Pay

Employees of Oil States Energy Services filed an overtime pay lawsuit alleging the company refused to pay overtime to employees who already had received “job bonuses.” In August 2018, a federal judge ruled the employees still deserved to receive overtime wages for the overtime worked despite the fact they received separate “bonus” money.

It’s not uncommon for employees at oil rigs and refineries to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to jobmonkey.com, an oil rig employee might work 12-hour days on the rig for 14 days straight followed by a week (seven days) off. This is particularly true when the rig is located offshore, such as off the coast of California or in the Gulf of Mexico.

When non-exempt oil and gas workers are forced to work strenuous jobs for long periods of time, their employers should compensate the workers with the appropriate, legal pay rate of time and one-half for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek.

Systemic violations of FLSA can result in costly lawsuits and thousands of dollars in back pay that is ordered to be provided to plaintiffs. Companies can avoid such expensive mistakes if they follow the law and pay their hard workers what they have truly earned.

Join a Free Oil and Gas Worker Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you work for an oil and gas company and you were not paid for all the overtime hours you worked, you may be entitled to compensation.

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