QUESTION
Can I sue my boss for unpaid overtime hours, and making myself and other employees alter expiration dates to sell products online?
Asked on Nov 25th, 2015 on Labor and Employment - Florida
More details to this question:
I worked for an e-commerce wholesale/salvage company as "warehouse manager/shipping supervisor" for 4 years. During my employment I was on payroll and received many bi-weekly payroll checks with over 80 hrs stated, sometimes over 100 hrs and only regular pay for hrs over 80. This happened multiple times and I still have payroll check stubs to prove it. I have recently quit working for this employer and started working for a retail business that he rarely buys from for his ecommerce business. Now my ex employer is threatening me with a non-compete agreement that I don't recall ever signing. He is also a scumbag and would make his employees including myself remove expiration dates off of many products to sell them online, I was disgusted in the fact that he would sell altered products, so I took a few videos of orders, with their invoice, showing the product with the expiration date and the process to remove the dates. He still sells these expired products and alters them to this day.
1 ANSWER
Mr. Whitener
Overtime entitlement is controlled by a federal statute called the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") whcih essentially requires that overtime compensation be paid after a 40 hour workweek. However, the FLSA has a multiple of exemptions from overtime. Without knowing the exact facts, you could be within one of these exemptions. Specifically the "Administrative Exemption" may apply to your job and prevent you from getting overtime but whether the exemption applies is highly fact specific and requires an analysis of your exact facts against the elements required by the exemption. If the exemption does not apply then you can pursue an overtime claim for at least for the past two years but in any event no more than the past three years.
In Florida, non-competes are enforceable but it is necessary to review the non-compete to determine its appicability. If you did not have a written employment contract, then in most instances the non-compete is enforceable unless the employer has breached an important term of your employment relationship.
As to the sale of products after the expiration date, that is an issue for the governmental authorities and you could bring it to the attention of the appropriate governmental agency.
Jay Levy
Answered on Nov 26th, 2015 at 7:30 AM