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Maryland State Legislature Considering a Bill to Fight Retaliation in the Workplace

February 28th, 2011

The Maryland State Legislature is now considering a bill that would strengthen the anti-retaliation provisions in state wage and hour law.  As a Maryland Employment Law Attorney, I view this as a very important piece of legislation.  As the law now stands, if you complain to your boss that you have not been paid correctly, the boss can cut your hours, change your shift, require you to work a split shift, and take other actions which are clearly “retaliatory.”  The only thing the boss cannot do is outright fire you.  Here’s how bad it can get – I represented an individual who was owed overtime wages from an employer he had recently left.  The ex-employer refused to resolve the case out of court, so we filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking those overtime wages.  In response, the ex-employer created and distributed a flyer with my client’s picture, social security number, and an accusation that my client had stolen the company’s property.  Then, the employer filed criminal charges against my client.  Of course, the company knew that the charges were false.  The company was clearly attempting to intimidate my client from pursuing his claim, and perhaps more importantly, sending a message to other employees not to stand up for their rights.  If the proposed bill is passed, it will provide employees, like my client, with added protection against retaliation.  Read more about Maryland Senate Bill 551.

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Posted in Employment Law, Retaliation, Wage & Hour

Overdue for Overtime – Non Exempt Overtime Pay for Legal Assistants

November 22nd, 2010

Lawyers – are you paying your legal assistants overtime?
Legal assistants – are you getting time and one-half when you work over forty hours?

Individuals who are paralegals, legal assistants, legal secretaries, and other non-lawyer positions that are often paid on a “salary” basis should get paid overtime when they work over 40 hours in one week. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act as well as the Maryland wage and hour laws and the DC wage and hour laws, these positions are not “exempt,” meaning, if an individual works more than 40 hours in a week, they must be paid one and one-half times their regular rate.

The United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is often called on to issue opinion letters addressing whether a certain job is “exempt” from the overtime protections of the FLSA. In response to numerous inquiries over the years, the Department has consistently stated that paralegals/legal assistants are not exempt under either the “professional” or “administrative” exemptions to the FLSA.

The position descriptions that the DOL held were not exempt from receiving overtime include legal assistants whose job requires some advanced education, including a two year’s paralegal certificate; legal assistants who have a four-year college degree and work under an attorney’s supervision drafting documents; and, a highly experienced paralegal who often meets with clients, analyzes facts and identifies relevant legal issues in a case.

What does this mean to you? If you are a legal assistant and work 40 hours, you may be being eligible for non-exempt overtime pay and need to consult with an attorney to ensure you are paid correct and recover wages owed to you. If you are an attorney, you may need to consult with an experienced employment law attorney and correct procedures which run afoul of the FLSA.

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Posted in Employment Law, Overtime, Wage & Hour