Wage and hour overtime lawsuit investigation

Miscalculated overtime: Who’s affected?

Are you an hourly employee who has received extra pay on top of your hourly wages?

This type of pay may go by a number of names, including:

• Site allowance
• Stage bonus
• Cash wages paid in lieu of fringe benefits
• Shift differential
• Safety bonus
• Production bonus
• Performance award/bonus
• Sign-on bonus
• Spotlight award (may be paid via gift card)
• Other guaranteed pay or non-discretionary bonuses
• COVID pay
• Essential pay
• Hazard pay
• Hero Pay

These types of bonus payments are particularly common for construction workers, including union craft workers, workers in the oil and gas industry, and workers in the healthcare industry.

As a result of these extra payments, your employer may have miscalculated your overtime when you worked more than 40 hours in one week, underpaying you and potentially entitling you to back pay and penalties.

If you earned any non-discretionary extra pay as referenced above in the last three years, there is a chance you were not paid all that you were entitled to according to federal and state labor laws. 

Extra pay class action lawsuit

• Site allowance
• Stage bonus
• Cash wages paid in lieu of fringe benefits
• Shift differential
• Safety bonus
• Production bonus
• Performance award/bonus
• Sign-on bonus
• Spotlight award (may be paid via gift card)
• Other guaranteed pay or non-discretionary bonuses
• COVID pay
• Essential pay
• Hazard pay
• Hero Pay

Employers often pay workers over and above their normal hourly wages through “allowances,” “bonuses,” or “differentials.”  

These forms of pay can be awarded because certain types of work are considered more difficult. A “shift differential” is when an employer pays extra for an undesirable shift like nights or weekends, and a “site allowance” is extra pay for commuting to a remote location. Other times employers pay extra to create incentives for production such as a “stage bonus” for oil and gas workers. 

Federal and state wage laws require that bonuses based on objective criteria, or which the employer announces to promote steady or efficient work, must be included when calculating workers’ overtime rates.

When employers provide these “extra” pay items or bonuses, they must do so lawfully and according to the minimum wage requirements and formulas of federal and state wage laws. When calculating time-and-a-half overtime rates, employers must include these additional forms of payment in that calculation.

For example, if a construction employee who earns $10/hour works ten hours of overtime, the calculation for overtime pay is simple – he or she earns time-and-a-half of the hourly rate ($15) x 10 hours, for $150. However, if the employee also receives $10 each day in a “site allowance,” the overtime rate for time-and-a-half must be higher than $15/hour – the employer must include the extra $10 per day for the “site allowance” in that calculation. The total amount of overtime pay would then be greater than $150.

Employers often underpay their workers by failing to include additional pay when calculating their overtime rate. Each pay period, the employee is short-changed a subtle, yet substantial, amount. 

Many workers at large companies have recently filed class action lawsuits against their employers, alleging that their companies chronically and consistently underpaid them.  

If you are an hourly worker who received guaranteed extra pay, including site allowances, stage bonuses, or shift differentials, over the last four years, you could be entitled to additional compensation. Legal recourse may be available.

Please fill out the form on this page to see if you qualify for a FREE case evaluation.