I worked at this job for exactly 3 years and 1 week before being terminated. At the 3 year mark I was due 3 weeks paid vacation. Additionally, this employer use a timebank system and has never paid overtime. Any overtime is rolled over into a time bank and the employees are only paid for a 40 hour week. I had 79 hours in my time bank plus the 120 hours I was due for vacation time. I would like to know am I due overtime pay for the three years I worked without receiving it and if so, how do I go about getting it? Am I due the 3 weeks (120 hours) vacation time? And the 79 hours I have accrued in the time bank? What are my options?http::cool:

We have no idea if you are due overtime or not since we have no clue if you are exempt or non-exempt. The fact that your employer required time cards does not, in and of itself, mean that you needed to be paid overtime.

Mississippi law does not require that you be paid out any unused vacation time or any time that you may have in a time bank. It would depend entirely on company policy.

So what we need to know is, what did you do there?

thank you for replying.
My official title was pick up and delivery coordinator. I scheduled pick ups and deliveries of donations at a non profit organization. I also drove, loaded and unloaded the truck of donations, food etc. One other thing I failed to mentioned. I received my last paycheck but I didn't receive the money I accrued in an IRA.

Call your old jobs payroll department and demand that you be given your ira information immediately. I don't know if in some cases, you lose that money if you quit or get fired. Do you have any paperwork about your ira, and which company your money was going to? If you do, I would take that paperwork to an attorney, to see what you are entitled to. I know there is a penalty if you take the money and do not roll it over to your next jobs ira. I am not, I repeat not an expert on this. IRA contributions are not like vacation accrued, you pay into this, so the money is yours, I do not think your employer can withold this information from you, but cbg will be able to clue you in, as many other senior members that know about all of this. Good luck!

There are no circumstances where monies contributed by the employee into a 401k or IRA can be forfeited; nor, in those cases when a plan allows for employer's portion to be forfeited, is the forfeiture determined by how quickly the plan is distributed.

The plan document determines the distribution schedule. It is not always immediate.

Based on your job duties, I would opine that you were a nonexempt employee (didn't meet the criteria for exemption from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act). Accordingly, you can file a claim for the unpaid overtime. And, BTW, if the "time bank" was accruing hour-for-hour, the amount due would be 1.5 times that, because overtime is at time-and-a-half your regular hourly rate.

Now, someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but it didn't look like from the MS web site that Mississippi has the jurisdiction to take your claim. You can file with the federal DOL if that is the case. Here are a couple of phone numbers.

MS DES in Jackson 601-321-6000
Federal DOL 888-4-USWAGE

Based on your job duties, I would opine that you were a nonexempt employee . . . if the "time bank" was accruing hour-for-hour, the amount due would be 1.5 times that, because overtime is at time-and-a-half your regular hourly rate.



Note if you bring a civil action for enforcement, you are entitled to receive an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. If you prevail, your attorney "shall" be awarded reasonable attorneys fees and expenses. See 29 USC 216(b).

Every lawyer who will take a case like this will do so on a deferred payment arrangement - meaning will wait until the court award to collect from the other side. This course of action is only advisable after researching thoroughly to make certain you are non-exempt.

The federal dept. of labor sertainly has jurisdiction to investigate. But you are not likely to get the liquidated damages you are due even if the DOL investigation is favorable. With the right lawyer, you get an advocate, not a paper pushing civil servant.

My $0.03

My $0.03

Ah, you increased your fees. :D