West Palm Beach Overtime Lawyer

West Palm Beach Overtime Attorney

If you are a qualifying employee who has worked more hours than you were required to by your company’s policy, it’s not unreasonable to expect to be paid for those hours. Every cent you earn belongs to you. If your employer opts to withhold that payment for whatever reason, you may be able to take legal action against them for wage theft. Many employees may feel like they can’t speak with their employer about this, but a West Palm Beach overtime lawyer can help.

The legal team at the Law Offices of Gary A. Costales, P.A., can help you deal with any sort of overtime dispute you may be having with your employer. After all, if you worked the hours you worked and you can prove it, you are owed that pay if you qualify for overtime under the state’s labor laws. The last thing you want is for your employer to constantly be holding your hard-earned money over your head because they feel they have power over you. See a lawyer.

Overtime in Florida

According to a recent study by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, the WHD was able to successfully recover over $273 million across the country for workers who were somehow taken advantage of by their employers in 2024. Many of these cases were overtime disputes, wrongful terminations, and other situations. Over 152,000 workers were compensated for their troubles, many of them in Florida. This is not an uncommon scenario.

If your employer is withholding a portion of your paycheck, it can seriously affect your financial security in a negative way. You may want to consider reaching out to a West Palm Beach financial advisor or support group, such as The United Way of Palm Beach County or Community Partners of South Florida. Having someone to talk to about your financial struggles and associated mental health strain can be beneficial and helpful in many ways.

In Florida, you are entitled to overtime pay if you are a non-exempt employee working more than 40 hours in a standard workweek. The standard rate for overtime in Florida is one and a half times that of an employee’s regular rate of pay. Additionally, if an employee works all seven days in a week consecutively, they are entitled to time and a half pay on the seventh day. However, this only occurs if the employee is permitted to work over 40 hours in a week.

If your employer tries to retaliate against you for demanding your overtime pay, you should consider reaching out to an experienced West Palm Beach employment lawyer for help. According to Florida state law, it is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you when you report their bad behavior to the proper authorities or stand up to them in a way they don’t like.

Filing an Overtime Dispute Claim in West Palm

There are many ways you can try to get your overtime situation with your employer resolved. Some of them may not be easy, but they may be more effective than others. The process really begins with hiring the right overtime lawyer to represent your case and help you protect yourself as you go through the process. Here are some of the steps you may want to take to try and resolve an overtime dispute in West Palm:

• Statute of limitations. Before you can file an overtime claim, you will need to make sure that your case adheres to the statute of limitations on overtime claims in West Palm. The state will give you between two and three years, depending on whether or not the overtime violation was willful on the part of your employer. In that time, you will need to build up your case, gather evidence, talk to a lawyer, and file your claim.
• Written notice. Before you move forward with a legal claim, you will need to provide written notice to your employer that you are planning to do so. This written notice must include your intention to take legal action, the amount you are owed, and the dates and hours you worked for that money. This may be the end of your case if your employer agrees to pay you to avoid any sort of litigation.
• File a wage claim. Once you have informed your employer of your intentions and that has not resolved the case, you should file a wage claim with the U.S. Department of Labor. Make sure you gather all the evidence you have that supports your claim. The DOL will investigate your claim and possibly try to mediate things between you and your employer.

FAQs

West Palm Beach Overtime Lawyer

At the Law Offices of Gary A. Costales, P.A., we can help with your overtime case. Contact us to speak to a valued team member about what we can do for you.