In a dispute that dates back to 1994, Kentucky employees of the Sullivan University System have been asking for overtime wages they feel they were denied. The employees are current and past high school representatives and admissions officers that present information regarding the university system to high school students. The U.S. Department of Labor was first alerted to the issue in 1994, but there was no legal action taken at the time. The Labor Department began reviewing the case again in 2007 and a lawsuit was filed in 2010. Sullivan has agreed to settle with about 150 employees by paying them overtime owed from 2007 to the present.
The Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, addresses minimum wage and overtime standards for most private and public workers in the United States. It is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor. According to FLSA, employees that work over 40 hours during a workweek are entitled to one-and-a-half times their pay for every extra hour worked. Workweeks can start on any day of the week but must consist of seven consecutive days. The hours of two or more workweeks cannot be averaged to avoid overtime pay even if the employee is paid on a bi-weekly basis. The Sullivan employees worked an average of 2.2 hours of overtime each week, so they should have received one-and-a-half times their pay for those extra hours.
Sullivan University Systems claimed the employees involved in the lawsuit were exempt, which means they were not covered by the overtime portion of FLSA. Most companies that make less than $500,000 per year are not required to pay overtime, but schools of all types, including “institutions of higher education” must pay overtime regardless of their annual income. Certain types of employees are exempt from receiving overtime according to FLSA, a complete copy of which can be found on the U.S. Department of Labor website. Examples include executives, outside salespeople, certain professionals, newspaper delivery people, babysitters, workers on small farms, and people employed at sea. An attorney for Sullivan said the employees were treated as professionals and were paid well, but the school agreed to re-classify them as non-exempt as part of the settlement. They will now be required to clock in and out and their base pay will be reduced to compensate for the overtime they receive, making their earnings the same.
The employees involved in the suit also claimed that proper records of their hours were not kept. According to Kentucky wage and hour laws,
Every employer subject to the provisions of the Kentucky Minimum Wage Law shall make and preserve records containing the following information:
(a) Name, address, and Social Security Number of each employee;
(b) Hours worked each day and each week by each employee;
(c) Regular hourly rate of pay;
(d) Overtime hourly rate of pay for hours in excess of forty hours in a workweek;
(e) Additions to cash wages at cost, or deductions (meals, board, lodging, etc.) from stipulated wages in the amount deducted, or at cost of the item for which deductions are made;
(f) Total wages paid for each workweek and date of payment.
These records do not need to be kept in a specific format, but employers must retain them for at least one year. Requiring the employees to clock in and out will at least provide Sullivan an accurate record of the hours worked by each employee.
Federal and state wage and hour laws are in place to make sure Kentucky employees are fairly compensated for their time and efforts on the job. If you are not receiving some of the pay or benefits you have earned, please contact a Kentucky employment attorney to see what steps can be taken to remedy the situation. Oftentimes, an employer and employee can resolve a situation with a little outside guidance, but sometimes legal action needs to be taken.
Sources:
Sullivan says it settles lawsuit; The Courier-Journal; Chris Kenning; December 8, 2011