Legal Question in Employment Law in Louisiana

Re: I'm required to work overtime because I'm female with no time and a half

Your message raises several issues. First, the overtime issue. Depending on your job and your duties, you may or may not be entitled to overtime. I would have to know a lot more about what you do in order to give you a better idea about that. Basically, the FLSA provides that any hours worked over 40 must be paid at time and a half, unless you are exempt. The question of whether you are exempt is where the specific facts of your job and what you do comes in. Second, you raise the possibility of a FMLA claim. From your listing of the number of employees you have, it sounds like you are familiar with the requirements of the FMLA, i.e., that the employer have at least 50 employees. There are numerous ways to count employees, however, so it may be that you might qualify. If your mother has a serious health condition, and your employer has 50 employees (and you've worked there for at least a year, which you have), then you would be entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave (per year) to care for your mother. Your employer also couldn't retaliate against you for requesting or taking the leave. The last issue you raise is one of sex discrimination. If you are treated differently by your employer simply because you are a woman, then that is illegal sex discrimination. There are numerous other factors that I would need to know before being able to tell you with any certainty that you do or don't have a claim, but from what you've said, it sounds like you might. My advice would be to contact an attorney that specializes in employment law and see what options you have available. Good luck.