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The white color exemptions apply to certain categories of employees, making them exempt from both minimum wage and overtime pay. These exemptions include executive, administrative and professional exemptions as well as several others. Meanwhile, there is often a lot of confusion about applying white-collar exemptions, which deprives employees of fair compensation for their long hours.

It is vital to know that simply calling someone a manager doesn’t automatically make them exempt from overtime pay under the executive exemption. Similarly, working in an office with the management doesn’t qualify someone for administrative exemptions. As the FLSA Act includes several tests for each exemption, it is advisable to consult with a wage and hour lawyer to determine if an exemption is applicable under the circumstances.

Working ‘off-the-clock’ is any work done by an employee, which is not compensated and not counted towards such employee overtime. The list of examples includes answering urgent emails from the employer or clients outside working hours, having to work during not paid breaks or unpaid ‘prep-work.’

Meanwhile, it should be remembered that working off-the-clock is illegal. Those employers who encourage or overlook off-the-clock work are breaking the law and can be subject to wage and hour lawsuits. If you are a non-exempt employee who is either required, permitted or suffered to work off-the-clock, you will benefit from consulting experienced wage and hour attorneys from Samuel Law Firm who would help you get compensated for all your overtime hours.

In New York, employers are required to provide non-paid meal breaks to their employees. Thus, non-factory workers have the right to a 30-minute noonday break if their shift continues for more than six hours and crosses the noonday period. In addition, those whose working hours start before 11 am and continue past 7 pm are entitled to an additional 20-minute meal break between 5 pm and 7 pm.

Those employers who require employees to work during their meal breaks are violating the law. The employers cannot force employees to eat lunch at their desks either, as the employee should be completely freed from the duties during the meal period. If you have to work during your meal break, you are entitled to be paid for the entire meal break period regardless of interruptions.