First, you can file a complaint with the nearest office of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Labor Department will investigate your claim, and if they find evidence to support you, they can work with your employer to settle the wage and hour claim, or the Labor Department can file suit against the company. The Labor Department's goal is to get you your back salary, and sometimes (such as in the case of the company's being a repeat offender), they can get more money as a penalty.
The second way the law allows you to obtain your back pay is to make a legal claim against your company for your back wages. In this type of wage and hour claim, you sue on behalf of yourself as an individual. In large-scale situations where other employees have also been deprived of their overtime pay, you can file a "class action" lawsuit. In a class-action lawsuit, a few employees sue on behalf of all of the employees at your company who have been shorted their overtime pay.
While you deserve your overtime pay, you might think that reporting the company or filing a lawsuit is more trouble than it is worth. This is another reason why hiring an Atlanta wage and hour lawyer is so important at the beginning of the process. Because a lawyer who is skilled in wage and hour claims can evaluate your case and help you find the fastest, easiest way to resolve your complaint and get you paid.
Usually, your lawyer will be able to work out a settlement between you and your employer — often where your employer agrees to pay you what they owe (plus interest) in exchange for your promising not to file a lawsuit.
You may also wonder if your employer can retaliate against you, either for contacting the Labor Department or even talking to an attorney about your claim. While we cannot promise your employer will not try to retaliate in some way, what we can tell you is that it is against the law for the company to retaliate against you while the Labor Department is investigating a claim, or for going to a lawyer about your concerns. And if your employer does retaliate, then we would just add that to your complaint or lawsuit as another reason why your employer needs to pay you for more than back wages.
Because overtime eligibility can be complicated, it is important to say that if it ultimately turned out that you were not entitled to overtime pay, your employer still cannot act against you for going to a lawyer. So even if they were right about the overtime pay, you could still sue them if they retaliated for your asking about it.