CALL TODAY

According to an August 20th press release, a massive national Uniform provider, Cintas, came to terms recently on an almost $23 million settlement with a class of hundreds delivery drivers to whom it failed to pay overtime compensation.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is the Federal law mandating overtime compensation to persons who work more than forty hours a week. The law has a number of carve outs, more properly called exemptions, for broad groups of employees who are not entitled to overtime. The lawsuit alleged that Cintas misclassified the drivers as exempt employees under the FLSA. After an arbitrator ruled in favor of the drivers, the parties agreed to settle the matter for the above amount.

Many misconceptions exist about who is and is not entitled to overtime. For example, just because a person receives a salary does not mean they are exempt from overtime. Another mistaken belief is that “managers” cannot be entitled to overtime. The truth is that salary and title have little to do with the analysis. The law is far more concerned with an employee’s actual duties and responsibilities than anything else.

Labels: Fair Labor Standards Act overtime Virginia overtime lawyer

4/27/2009
Harris D. Butler
Comments (0)

Are Timeshare Sales Employees Entitled to Overtime Pay?

Under a Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Opinion Letter dated January 25, 2007, on-property timeshare salespeople are entitled to overtime wages for all hours worked over 40 hours per week. The DOL Opinion Letter states that timeshare employees enaged in sales efforts on the employer's property and performing associated duties should be considered performing "inside sales" work and that such employees are entitled to overtime pay.

The timeshare industry has historically treated this work as "outside sales" (which would be exempt from overtime) and timeshare employers have not paid sales employees overtime. The issue applies to all on-property employees performing timeshare sales functions, including "front-line" sales, "in-house" sales, "take-over" sales/TO managers, "closers" and "exit department" sales, all of which may qualify for overtime payments depending on the circumstances of each case. Timeshare salespeople have often worked over 40 hours per week without overtime pay. Because the work is performed on the employer's property, the Opinion Letter states that the type of activity described in the Letter should be considered "inside sales" and that employees performing such work are entitled to overtime - they are not "exempt" employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the law which governs overtime pay.

The FLSA requires that employers who have not paid on-property timeshare sales employees overtime for all hours worked over 40 per week must pay their employees and former employees (1) their unpaid overtime; (2) liquidated damages equal to an additional like amount of unpaid overtime for two years from the date of filing a suit or an "opt-in" consent to join an existing suit (i.e. doubling the amount due) and (3) attorneys fees and costs of court. In the cases of willful violations, employers are required to pay unpaid overtime and liquidated damages for three years unpaid overtime.

Butler, Williams & Skilling, P.C. and Cupp & Cupp, P.C. presently represent a collective of approximately 145 timeshare sales employees for unpaid overtime pay and minimum wages against Massanutten Resort (owned by Great Eastern Resort Corporation and affiliated with and managed by The Berkley Group, Inc. family of resorts) in a claim pending in the Virginia state court in Rockingham County (Harrisonburg, Virginia).