Wait — I Can Do That? | Ep. 13: File Your Own Unpaid-Overtime Complaint

If your paycheck is the same every week, it is easy to assume the hours stop counting somewhere past forty. Federal law does not work that way. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires at least one and a half times your regular rate for the hours you work over forty in a workweek. 1

Being salaried is not the same as being exempt. An exempt job has to clear two tests: pay of at least $684 a week, and duties that match one of the white-collar exemptions — executive, administrative, professional, computer or outside sales. Job titles decide nothing. 23 Manual workers and first responders are not exempt however well they are paid. 2

If you are not exempt, you can file your own complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. It is free, there is no filing fee, and the complaint is confidential — the agency may not disclose your name, or even that a complaint exists. Call 1-866-487-9243. An investigator reviews the employer's records, and when back wages are owed the investigator asks the employer to pay them. 4

The words to use, by phone or in writing to your employer:

Federal law makes retaliation illegal — an employer may not fire or punish you for filing a complaint, and it makes no difference whether the complaint is spoken or written. 5 The deadline is two years from the pay period in question, three years if the violation was willful. 6

Two things this does not settle. If your job genuinely passes both tests for an exemption, there is no overtime to recover. And it is the Division, not you, that decides whether to open an investigation.

Verify with a professional for your jurisdiction.