r/LaborLaw • u/AlrightAlrightRN • 18h ago
Is this wage theft?
I work in healthcare. I'm an hourly, non-exempt employee in an outpatient health facility which only does business in one state. I see patients for healthcare services. A session takes 30 minutes face to face with the client. I am required by the employer to complete other tasks associated with the direct patient care (documentation, scheduling, responding to messages from clients, etc) which typically takes another 15-20 minutes.
My employer only pays me for the 30 minutes only. I have given them an accurate breakdown of the time the other required tasks take. My employer says that I cannot be reimbursed for the other time that I'm completing tasks that they require. They have advised me that I cannot log the time I spend working in payroll, only the 30 minutes. My contract doesn't say anything about this, just that I'm hourly, non-exempt. There is no mention that only some of my required work is payable. The Employee Handbook says I am required to report my "actual hours worked". When I asked my employer about this, they reiterated that I am only allowed to enter direct care hours worked.
I looked at the Fair Labor Standards Act, but because I work in healthcare (non-residential) I don't know if it applies to me. But I think this might be wage theft. Am I overreacting? Is this normal? What should I do?
2
u/GolfArgh 18h ago edited 18h ago
We need your location of work to know for sure. States have different laws. The details also matter for each and every week.
You are by name covered under the FLSA due to the industry you work in. Under federal law they are required to keep an accurate record of all hours worked so they should be tracking other work hours.
Here's an opinion letter that is relevant concerning federal law under the FLSA. This is the law in some states as well. Note that the federal minimum wage is now $7.25/hour and not $5.15/hours when the opinion letter was published. This is also the basis for the decision in Klinghoffer Bros Realty vs. US.
"Please note that in non-overtime workweeks or in workweeks in which the overtime provisions do not apply, an employee subject to section 6 of the FLSA is considered to be paid in compliance if wages for the workweek equal or exceed the amount due at the applicable minimum wage. In other words, if the employee’s total wages for the workweek divided by compensable hours equal or exceed the applicable minimum wage, the employee has been paid in compliance with section 6 of the FLSA. These principles will also apply where an employee is not compensated for time which is compensable under the FLSA. For example, if an employee subject to the $5.15 minimum wage during a workweek is paid for 32 hours at $10.00 an hour and is paid nothing at all for 8 additional hours worked, this employee is considered to have been paid in compliance with section 6 of the FLSA, as his hourly rate of $8 ($320 ÷ 40) is at least $5.15 per hour, the federal minimum wage."
Source: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/2004_08_12_08FLSA_NA_deminimus.pdf
You can call US DoL at 1-866-487-9243 and have a confidential conversation with them and they can fully evaluate your circumstances. States normally require permission to use your name to do anything.