Misclassified Manager Overtime pay Class Action Settlement Reached

A little over a year ago, I wrote about a case involving Store Managers suing for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Recently, a $1.5 million settlement was reached in a different case involving store managers who were denied overtime pay.

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The FLSA and Ohio law require employers to pay eligible employees overtime at a rate of one-and-a-half times their regular hourly rate for every hour worked over forty in a given week. Not all employees are eligible for overtime pay though. Many times, management employees are exempt from the Ohio and federal minimum wage and overtime pay rules. Where employers have gotten into trouble lately is by simply assuming that if an employee has the word “manager” in his or her job title, then the overtime pay rules don’t apply. As this new settlement demonstrates, that’s a dangerous assumption.

Hegab v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc. is a class action lawsuit brought under the FLSA by current and former store managers at Family Dollar. Filed in 2011, the lawsuit alleged that the company mistakenly determined all store managers were exempt from the overtime pay rules. As I mentioned, the parties recently reached a $1.5 million settlement, which must still be approved by the Court.

​Application of the rules for determining whether so-called “managers” are entitled to overtime pay depends on a variety of factors. As a general rule of thumb, however, the nature of the employees’ job duties will be typically be the deciding factor. If a “manager” has little or no actual discretion in how to do his or her job—for instance on things like employee discipline or how to implement company strategy—then there may be a good chance they are entitled to the FLSA overtime protections. In addition, if a so-called manager is not paid a salary of at least $455 per week, that too is a signal he or she may be entitled to overtime pay as set out in the FLSA and Ohio law.

If you work as a “manager” and think you might be entitled to overtime pay you are not getting, contact an experienced Cleveland Overtime Pay Attorney right away. If your rights have been violated, every day you wait can reduce the amount of your recovery.