Hi all. First post.

I live and work in NJ.
My consulting firm is based in Kentucky (unsure if that matters, figured I'd mention it).

I've apparently been Salaried since day one with this new firm (June '07).

I have been asked to work overtime by the parent company (the one in NJ) on quite a few occasions. It has recently come to light that I am owed overtime as it had been left out of my paychecks.
As per the payroll department of this consulting firm, I have been overtime exempt since day one. Strangely, the wife and I never caught this because of the way the payweek falls. (It's odd to say the least, yes, since June).

My dilemna.
I fill out an hourly timesheet each Friday, where it is signed by parent company management, and then faxed in. Payroll states I am exempt from O.T. and refuses to pay and the parent company refuses to get involved, even though they themselves requested it? I have a few of them in writing but not many (emails)

What recourse do I have, and who with? Theoretically it should be consulting firm fighting with parent company, but it's me against all of them now.

Any help offered is appreciated..

Thanks,
BWB

Exempt means exempt from overtime. On what are you basing the theory that you are owed overtime? Are you disputing the exemption or is there something in your contract that specifies that overtime is due?

A few reasons:

1- My contract isnt checked Salaried or hourly, I always assumed I was hourly due to the hourly timesheet I filed out, had signed by management and faxed in. My overtime hours, and singatures were on each one.

2- I was asked by the parent company to work overtime. Never did they state we wouldnt be paid.

Am I fighting a losing battle here?

BWB

If you're exempt you are.

"Salaried" and "hourly" are just payment methods that do not mean much by themselves. "Salaried" employees can be either Exempt or Non-Exempt. A good starting point would be to determine whether or not you really are Exempt. To determine that we need to know the nature of your employer's business, and what your job duties are. You might also want to look at the following website.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/main.htm

Ok, so my offer letter states that I am "Exempt" but it also states that

"This position is exempt. You will be paid overtime for hours worked over 45 in a workweek at a straight time rate, provided management approval is received in advance." When asked if a Manditory Saturday to cover a customers production day ment that the time was approved it was made clear to me that I would never get approved overtime. Additionally it was made clear that if I was unable to proform to standard within the 45 hours my performance would be evaluated which could result in diciplinary action up to and including termination.

So what does the law say about my rights in Kentucky when I have documentation that states I will be paid and when I ask about the subject my job is threatened?

Kevin

"This position is exempt...So what does the law say about my rights in Kentucky when I have documentation that states I will be paid and when I ask about the subject my job is threatened

The laws of Kentucky do not matter unless you are working there.

Assuming you are legitimately an exempt employee, the employer is not obligated to pay you a penny more than your salary no matter how many hours you work.

The company MAY pay you additional pay for working more. If that agreement is a contract or not is something you would have to take to a lawyer experienced in such matters.

If I worked for a company that said I would get extra pay for working more than 45 hours a week and it did not happen, I would not be a happy camper and I would dust off the resume.

The agreement was on a signed Offer Letter. By definition isn't a contract any agreement that is documented and signed? My discussion with HR and Management over this topic led to a strained relationship and I was terminated last week. I feel that my employment was not only threatened but terminated due to my efforts to hold them to this agreement. I am not looking for revenge, just a better understanding of what to do next time this comes up.

Kevin

The agreement was on a signed Offer Letter. By definition isn't a contract any agreement that is documented and signed?

I would be surprised if many offer letters are considered contracts, although there are occasions when the recision of an offer causes damages to the prospective employee (afterthought, are there any cases where the employer is damaged by a new hire's refusal to honor the offer letter and show up for work?).

I cannot tell from your posts if you are asking for compensation for hours worked over 45 in a work week or for hours over 40. If the offer letter stipulated that you would be compensated extra for working more than 45 hours in a work week, you might be able to go to court for what they owe you. No Labor Department would touch the case, since the agreement exceeds the legal requirements for an exempt employee.

OTOH, if you are trying to get paid more for any hours between 40 and 45, you are out of luck, if you were legitimately classified as exempt (note -- them saying that the position is exempt does not automatically make it so).

I still do not see were he is officially exempt or not, base on the information provide here (as job title do not mean anything when it comes to exempt or not). If you are in dought about the exempt or non-exempt status, you must provide a good duties/daily tasks that you are performing on a day-weekly basis to be able to determine if the exempt status is applicable or not. Or you can always call the local Wage Hour office and provide then with the information and they can reasonable tell you your exempt status with a good degree of certainty … Then you may want to explore the worked hrs after 40 or 45, if the employer owes you anything or not.

Actually, I am not looking for anything from my former company. What I am looking for is advice as to how to handle this situation in the future. If there is a documented agreement like the one I have/had and then I am forced to work beyond the 45 hours to supervise a process working a Saturday but management still will not compensate me for it... what then... is the next step?

See council at the very first hit of Blackmail? I mean, that's what they did. "You have to work this Saturday and no your not getting paid for it and if you argue with me we'll fire you. We don't care what we told you in writting when you agreed to work for us." A spade is a spade... no?