Greg McGillivary
Fri, 09/17/2021
Following several other federal courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, has ruled that workers who are paid on a daily rate basis are entitled to be paid time and one-half overtime for all work hours over 40 hours a week. The court held that this is true regardless of their job duties and regardless of how much they are paid as a daily rate. The court rejected the Company’s argument that since the oil filed analysts at issue earned upwards of $200,000 a year, they were too highly paid to qualify for overtime pay. In Hewitt v. Helix Energy Solutions, Inc. Case No. 19-20023 (5th Cir. September 9, 2021), oil analysts were held to be entitled to overtime in any workweek in which they work more than 40 hours a week finding that being paid on a daily rate is not equivalent to being paid on a salaried basis.
Payment on a “day rate” basis is common in the oil and financial industries, and also in many types of seasonal jobs. For example, workers who are classified as field specialists, analysts, lease operators, field engineers, field coordinators, inspectors, drive technicians, service supervisors, and water truck drivers are often paid on a daily “day rate” basis.
Individuals who are paid day rates, and who work over 40 hours without receiving overtime pay in addition to their day rates, regardless of their job duties or income, should contact McGillivary Steele Elkin to determine if you have a good overtime case. In addition to backpay, employees can recover liquidated damages for unpaid overtime wages. To contact us click here or email us at info@mselaborlaw.com.
