Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia

Re: Overtime exemptions

Your post raises several questions. The first is whether or not you were initially properly classified as exempt. It is impossible to tell from your post whether or not you were. Generally, the most common three exempt classifications are for administrative, executive and professional employees. Each of these classifications has its own regulations defining what types of employees fall within its parameters. An employment lawyer should be able to make this determination for you relatively easily if you give him/her the details about your job.

The next question is, if you were originally properly classified as exempt, whether or not the actions taken by your employer destroy that exempt classification. Generally, an employer may deduct partial day absences from a legitimate sick and vacation plan, but the employer is not able to deduct pay once the sick and vacation bank is exhausted. There are exceptions to this general rule, such as if your absences are properly designated as Family and Medical Leave Act leave on an intermittent basis. Again, an employment lawyer should be able to help you sort this out.

The third question involves the company-wide shutdown for a week. This is perfectly legal, but only if the company handles it properly. For non-exempt employees, there is no requirement for compensation during the shutdown (unless there is a contract or Collective Bargaining Agreement stating the contrary). For exempt employees, if the company shuts down a regular workweek (such as the "normal" Sunday-Saturday, and the exempt employee performs NO work, no pay is due the employee. However, if the employee performs ANY work during the week and is ready and able to perform work the rest of the week, the employer generally cannot refuse to pay the exempt employee for the ENTIRE week's salary.

Another issue you raised was whether or not the company could require you to make up time by working through lunch. In Georgia, there is no statutory requirement that employees are given a lunch break, so the company could require you to work through lunch under the law. (However, if this working through lunch is to get you to a set number of hours for the week, such as 40, that fact may be additional evidence that they are treating you as an hourly, non-exempt employee rather than an exempt employee.)

If you were improperly classified as an exempt employee, or if the employer's actions destroyed that exempt status, you would be entitled to overtime for the hours worked each week over 40. If this case were to go to trial, you could be entitled to receive UP TO your overtime wages for 2 years (three years if the company's actions were willful), an additional amount equal to the overtime compensation as liquidated damages and attorney's fees.

The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relationship has been created or should be implied.