A lawsuit has been filed against AT&T about pay for overtime being denied to employees because they have been misclassified as managers. The AT&T lawsuit seems to ring true to calls around the country claiming wage theft is on the rise. ABC News reports that employees filed the AT&T lawsuit because they claim that since AT&T misclassified them as managers, meaning they were exempt from receiving pay for overtime.

The employees are from AT&T offices in San Francisco and Atlanta, so the AT&T lawsuit is actually filed in both California and Georgia. They are asking for over a $1 billion dollars in damages. The plaintiffs were classified by AT&T as “level one” managers.

According to Reuters, “level one” managers are the lowest level in the company’s 7 level management tier. The plaintiffs claim that the role involves minimal supervisory work. Reuters quotes the lead attorney for the plaintiffs as saying, “If you call somebody a duck and it doesn’t quack, it doesn’t swim and it doesn’t have wings, it ain’t a duck.”

What are Overtime Exemptions?

U.S. Department of Labor regulations state that all employees who earn less than $455 per week, or $23,660 per year, are automatically entitled to receive overtime pay.  Employees who earn more than that amount are exempt from overtime requirements if they are compensated by a salary, and not on an hourly basis, and if their job falls into one of the following categories:

  • Executive, in which an employee’s primary duties involve office or non-manual work directly related to the management of the employer’s operations, and which require the employee to exercise discretion and independent judgment.
  • Learned professional, in which an employee’s primary duties involve the performance of work that requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning.
  • Creative professional, in which an employee’s primary duties involve invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a field of creative or artistic endeavor.
  • In addition to the categories mentioned above, outside sales employees and certain computer employees are also exempt from overtime requirements.

In this case, the plaintiffs are claiming that AT&T is misclassifying them as executives in order to avoid paying them overtime.

Related Resources:

  • Minimum Wage and Overtime Basics  (Findlaw)
  • When Do I Have to Pay Overtime?  (Findlaw)
  • Top 5 FLSA & Overtime Rules for Employers (Findlaw’s Free Enterprise)

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