Mississippi ( MS ) Wage and Hour Laws
August 30th, 2006 Posted by HeatherSince there are no Mississippi (MS) wage and hour laws, the state of Mississippi follows the federal standard. These laws exist to help both employers and employees understand their rights and responsibilities, and help establish a standard for working conditions.
Mississippi (MS) wage and hour laws do not make a specific provision for minimum wage. Instead, the Mississippi minimum wage is modeled after the federal standard, which is currently set at $5.15 per hour. The minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour.
There is talk within the federal government about increasing the above mentioned hourly rate. If that happens it will affect not only the state of Mississippi but also several other states. Therefore, Mississippi could be required to pay up to $7.25 per hour to its employees within the next few years.
Certain exceptions exist regarding the payment of minimum wage in Mississippi. For example, employees with disabilities are not required to be paid the full minimum wage if their disabilities substantially affect their ability to work. Full-time students and those under 20 years of age within first 90 days of employment are also not required to be paid minimum wage.
No Mississippi (WA) wage and hour laws exist to make provisions towards overtime. Instead Mississippi’s policy regarding overtime is determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of the federal government. Overtime is paid to most workers who put in more than 40 hours in one 7-day work week. The overtime wage is one-and-a-half times the regular work wage.
Mississippi follows federal standards for offering breaks to employees as well. For example, they will either give an employee a paid rest break of 5 to 20 minutes or an unpaid lunch break of 30 minutes or more.
According to the wage and hour laws that Mississippi uses, breaks are not mandatory. However, if breaks are given they should be offered according to the standard set by the federal government, as mentioned in the above paragraph.
Sometimes federal and state overtime laws differ from one another. In some cases, such as that of the state of Mississippi (MI), wage and hour laws used are solely adopted from federal wage and hour laws. These are the ones outlined in the Fair Labor Standard Act.
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Posted by: Lisa Hopkins
A company in Louisville, Mississippi, has just filed Chapter 11. They are giving their employees bad checks. My sister was one of their employees. She has two children. She depends on her checks. They told her to go to Wal Mart or to other banks in Louisville and try to get them cashed. They were not going to tell her that her check was no good. She had to go to the Administrator and ask. That is when she told her to go to Wal mart or other banks. The name of the company is the CC [company name deleted] of Louisville, Mississippi. She still has not been paid with a good check. She finally had to quit her job. Luckly she is a LPN and she could go to another job. This is not right for a place to be able to be employees this way. What about the little elderly people they care for?
Posted by: Amelia
Lisa,
Your sister was right to find another job. But, Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a business reorganization. The company may continue to operate, and employees are still entitled to payment (although it may take a while.) Your sister will want to contact the state or federal Dept. of Labor.
For more info, post a question on our employee forum at http://www.laborlawtalk.com.
Thanks! Amelia
Posted by: Rita
A Company based out of the state of Mississippi is operating out of the State of Alabama are not paying overtime to truck drivers after 40 hours, they were told overtime starts at 60 hours. Is this correct or legal? Thank you,
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Rita! This is a complex situation. For a complete answer, please post it on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. And thanks for reading the blogs! Amelia
Posted by: Tim
Hi my name is Tim. My sister is being told that she will not recieve overtime pay for 48 hours, 8 of which were overtime. She was told this because she was covering for someone who called in sick. Can her employer do this?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Tim! No, the employer can’t do this, if your sister would ordinarily be entitled to overtime. Under federal law, an employee who works more than 40 hours per week must be paid overtime at a rate that is 1.5 times the employees usual hourly rate.
Suppose your sisters name is Annie. She fills in for Suzie on Tuesday. This results in Annie working 48 hours and Suzie working 32 hours that week, when both were scheduled to work 40. If this switch was not authorized by the employer, he or she can write your sister up for working unauthorized overtime, but she must still be paid the overtime rate.
Mississippi has no overtime or minimum wage law on the state level. A few small employers may be exempt from the federal overtime law, so they would not have to pay overtime. You can post your question on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com for a more complete answer. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Sherri
My husband left a job and the employer is refusing to pay him for his last day and a half wages. What can be done about this? I have called and left messages with the complaint line for the Wage and Hour but they have not called me back. This employer also owes another prior employee two and a half days pay and he is refusing to pay him also. This employer is also scamming his customers by working (for an example) he may have a guy working for 2 hours at a job but charges the customer for 4 or more hours. Something needs to done about this man, but what can I do? Where can we go for help? His name is Danny C. and he owns several businesses off of High Street, one of the company names is [deleted] that is the one my husband worked for. My husband left this job because he was working hours that he was not getting paid for, he would work 40-50 hours but only get paid for 30 and the owner refuses to pay overtime. We also think he is taking out too much taxes from their checks and pocketing it. He also refuses to give check stubs so the guys cannot keep up with their hours, wages or taxes.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Sherri! The dilemma here is that unlike most states, Mississippi does not have a minimum wage or overtime law. So an employer who is not covered by federal law, can pretty much do whatever he likes, in Mississippi.
Federal law applies to companies with $500,000 in revenue per year, or those that engage in interstate commerce. A company that has an internet connection or accepts credit cards usually engages in interstate commerce. Federal law requires that employees receive an itemized statement of deductions from their check.
If federal law applies, your husband should contact the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov and file a complaint of unpaid wages and overtime. If federal law does not apply, you husband can take the employer to small claims court to try to collect the unpaid wages. For a more detailed answer, post your questions on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: keith
Hello, the company I work for now has cut back to a 4 day work week and 1 shift per day and now they are making us come in to work @5:00am and work until the quota is met by that cell team and if you can’t work past the normal working period which is a 9 hr shift they hold you accountable and charge you a missed occurance and it is held against you. So with this in mind is this legal?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Keith! Yes, this is entirely legal. It’s called mandatory overtime. Basically, the employer can require that employees work past their usual quitting time, and discipline or fire any employee who fails to do so. The employer is still responsible for paying workers overtime when they put in more than 40 hours per week. For more into, post your question on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
I work at a hotel in Clinton Mississippi and our boss doesnt pay overtime. We end up having worked an extra 10mins to an hour extra from day to day and by the end of a pay period you can have 30 minutes to 3 hours extra on our time card easy but you don’t get paid for it. And now that he is on vacation we all have to work 80 hours but that still doesn’t cover all the shifts or the lateness of employees. So he says if we have to work extra shifts all together we will get paid in cash and still won’t get paid for the extra minutes if people are late.
Is this legal in Mississippi can they do that? If I challenge it can they get away legally with firing me?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elzie! Mississippi has no minimum wage or overtime law. However, a hotel almost always engages in interstate commerce, so it would be covered by the federal minimum wage law, the FLSA.
The FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act requires that most employees be paid time-and-a-half when they put in more than 40 hours per week. It also requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all the time they work (even an extra 30 minutes or 3 hours.)
It is illegal for an employer to fire an employee, or take negative job action against an employee when the employee reports a violation of labor law. And we suspect that if you report this, your employer will have far more serious things to worry about. The U.S. Department of Labor will investigate his business operations, including how all employees are being paid.
Contact the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, to report these minimum wage and overtime violations at http://www.dol.gov. For more info, post your questions on our sister site at http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
Is it legal for your boss to pay you cash or give you a check at your normal rate instead of allowing you to collect your time and a half overtime on your normal check?
At my job if we have over 80hrs lets say 85 they will pay you 80hrs on your check and then give you cash or a sepreate check for the other 5 hours in the amount of whatever rate you earn. i.e. if its 7.50 you get cash or a check for $37.50.. Is that legal and if it is can you tell them no you want your overtime pay for the hours.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elzie! This is probably illegal. Your boss knows that, which is why he or she issues a separate check for the overtime.
The federal FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act is the law that covers minimum wage and overtime. The FLSA doesn’t apply to every company in Mississippi, but it does apply to most. As we have already noted, it almost certainly applies to your employer, a hotel.
The FLSA requires that when an employee works more than 40 hours in a single payroll week, the employee must be paid overtime at 1.5 times the usual rate.
(Note: The requirement is not more than 80 hours in 2 weeks, it’s more than 40 hours per week. Suppose Tim works 45 hours this week and 35 hours next week. He is entitled to 5 hours of overtime, even though he only had 80 hours in the two-week pay period.)
You are well within your rights to insist that the employer pay you overtime when you work more than 40 hours per week, and provide a paycheck stub or other itemized list of earnings and deductions.
If the employer does not comply, your best bet is to file a wage complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, at dol.gov. HTH, and thanks for reading the blog!~ Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
Amelia I hate to keep beating a dead horse but my bosses are tricky people and I just want to be sure before I make my move. I have read a lot of material on the dol.gov website and as far as I can tell hotels are as you suspected not FLSA exempt, but how would I know for sure? who could I ask to make certain? Also we have equal employment act posters and are required to pay federal mininum wage so does that mean we auotmatically fall under the overtime rules?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elzie! Yes, the FLSA is both the federal overtime law, and the federal minimum wage law. So if the hotel where you work is covered by the federal minimum wage, you are entitled to overtime when working more than 40 hours per week.
The FLSA applies to every employer that engages in interstate commerce. Interstate commerce would include buying and selling products across state lines, such as taking telephone reservations. It also covers companies that accept credit cards, because the credit card company is out of state. It also covers virtually every company that has an internet connection, and uses email or a website to do business. So virtually every hotel would be covered.
Even if a company does not do business across state lines, if the company generates $500,000 in sales per year, it is covered under the FLSA. A hotel would have to be very, very small to generate less. HTH, and thanks for posting your question!~ Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
I asked my boss if our hotel had a FLSA exemption just to test his reaction asnd he said he didn’t know. This is a guy who owns four businesses in all seriousness based on your knowledge is it really likely he doesnt know that information?
I figured he knew saying yes would be a huge lie and I could use it against him later and I figured he didnt want to say no because he knew I’d demand my overtime. I just don’t see how its possible he doesnt know that information.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elzie! Of course your boss knows if the federal minimum wage and overtime law (FLSA) applies to his business. He wants to avoid saying anything that will result in him paying employees overtime. (There is no law that employers must tell employees the truth.)
Again, you mention that the federal minimum wage applies to the hotel where you work. If that is true, then the overtime law also applies, because they are the same law. (Trust us, if that was not true, this employer would be paying some people less than the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour.)
If the hotel accepts credit cards or phone reservations, it is engaged in interstate commerce and the FLSA applies. It is almost impossible for a hotel to not engage in interstate commerce in today’s market.
A better question would be to ask your employer why your overtime is not paid at 1.5 times your usual hourly rate. Even then, you don’t have to believe his answer. Check with the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. HTH, and best wishes!~ Amelia
Posted by: Heather
Hi! My husband is a RN and works for a hospital in Mississippi that has given two base pay adjustments to RNs in the past year. However, he and 2 other longtime employees were left out of these adjustments. This is not a merit or performance increase, but a base pay rate adjustment for the position of RN. There is no max or cap that he has reached either. Is this legal? If not, what laws does it violate and who can we file a complaint with? Thank you!
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Heather! This action may well be legal, unless the employer is engaging in illegal discrimination. Did the employer give a reason for not including your husband in the base pay adjustments? For example, if he works during the day, and the adjustments were made for workers on the p.m. shifts, that would be legitimate.
However, if all the female nurses were given salary increases, and your husband was not due to his race, color, age, sex, etc. that would be illegal discrimination.
Just yesterday, President Obama, signed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes it easier for employees to sue when they are not paid the same as employees of the opposite sex. If your husband believes that this is the case, he should contact the EEOC at http://www.eeoc.gov. For more info, post questions on http://www.laborlawtalk.com. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: janet
I work for a salary as a full time employee. I am now being told that I have to work the full forty hours, is this legal if I am being paid a salary and when I work over 40 hrs., I’m not paid for that.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Janet! We are going to assume that you are an exempt employee under the FLSA or federal Fair Labor Standards Act, since you are not entitled to overtime when working more than 40 hours per week.
Under the FLSA, if an exempt employee works fewer than 40 hours per week, the employee must be paid his or her full salary. In fact, as long as the employee worked anytime at all during the week, regardless of how few hours, usually they must be paid the full salary.
However, the employer has the right to set expectations including the number of hours worked. So, if you work fewer than 40 hours in a week, the employer can discipline or even terminate you. But they still must pay you for the full week’s salary. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
Is this legal? My bosses at the hotel I work at have cut all the housekeepers hours and brought in a two person in house cleaning crew. Which I am farily sure are not legal citizens and are paid under the table. They have not fired anyone but instead have told them they will call them in as needed but they basically only come in one day a week if that. It seems as if they just want them to quit instead of firing them. I guest this is to avoid paying unemployment. Are they allowed to do that?
It has us all worried that they will just cut our hours to force us to leave.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elizie! Yes, this may be legal. Your bosses have subcontracted the cleaning work, and reduced the employees hours. All of the employees can file for unemployment, because their hours have been reduced. It would not be wise to quit under these circumstances, unless you have found another job. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Claudia
I work for a small gym and it’s only me and one other employee. I worked 15 hrs over and didn’t get overtime pay on my check. Is that legal? Should my employer have noticed and corrected this?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Claudia! If the gym is covered by federal law, and you worked 55 hours in one payroll week, then yes, you should have been paid overtime. However, there is no overtime law at the state level in Mississippi. So if the gym is not covered by federal law, the employer would have to pay you for the hours that you worked, but not overtime. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: John
Hi Claudia, My wife works for a nationwide company that cuts hair in malls. She is required to be at work for 40 hours a week and sometimes more. However, if there is no customer in the store, employees are told to clock out and wait off the clock until another customer comes in. They are not aloud to leave. So my wife spends 40 hours a week in the store but only gets paid for between 20 and 30 hours for her time. Is this legal?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi John! It is not legal if the employer is covered under the federal minimum wage law, the FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act. Under the FLSA, if the employee is required to remain on company property waiting for work, the employee must be paid for that waiting time. FLSA applies to employers who do busienss across state lines, or to those with revenue of $500,000 or more per year.
Unfortunately, Mississippi does not have a minimum wage law. So if the employer is not covered by the FLSA, this may be legal. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: SHELLEY
My husband was working at H Marine and was laid off on May 21st. He never received a pay check for that week or the week prior . We called the Mississippi Labor board they told us the company had 5 days to send him his pay certified . My husband has yet to receive any pay yet which has put are finances in a bind what recourse do we have?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Shelley! Because Mississippi has no state minimum wage law, you will have to go through the federal Department of Labor. Contact them at http://www.dol.gov and file a wage complaint. This is a violation of the federal minimum wage, obviously.
Unfortunately, if the employer goes out of business, you may not be able to collect the past due wages. Even the Department of Labor can’t get blood from a turnip. Your husband should file for unemployment ASAP. They may also have suggestions on wage payment. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: MArie
My fiance works for a store in Mississippi and they have been under reporting his work hours. He thinks that if he reports the business, he will lose his job so he has said nothing. I do not like that they are stealing from us and want to do something about it.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Marie! Even in Mississippi (which has no state minimum wage) an employee is entitled to payment for every hour worked. Your fiance should tactfully raise this issue with his employer. They will probably tell him not to work additional hours — and they have the right to do so. However, if he does work the extra hours, he is entitled to payment for them as long as he is covered by the federal minimum wage law. It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee who files a wage claim. (Although, to be honest, it is also illegal for an employer not to pay an employee for all hours worked. So your fiance’s fears may be justified.) Your fiance can certainly file a wage claim with the U.S. Department of Labor. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~Amelia
Posted by: Lynn Smith
Message
My daughter works for a hotel. They work anywhere from 5 to 9 hours a day.
They are given 3 five minute breaks and no lunch. However, they deduct from their paycheck 1 hour. 2- 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch. Is this legal? Also, when the supervisor knows they have to work an extra 30 minutes or an hour she removes their timecards so they can not clock out but she writes in 5:00 even if they stay until 6:00. My daughter and her co-workers would like to know where they stand and could they legally take this to the labor board?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Lynn! Yes, your daughter and her coworkers should file wage claims with the U.S. Department of Labor. Under the federal FLSA, employees must be paid for all the time they work. If your daughter works 8 hours straight through with no break, the employer cannot deduct 30 minutes for a lunch break. If your daughter works an extra hour, she must be paid for it.
Your daughter and all her coworkers should start keeping written records of the hours they actualy work. When the US Department of Labor investigates, they can force the employer to pay wages due for the past 3 years. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Tammy
My husband works for a automobile shop where he is a salaried employee. He is required to “punch a clock” even though he is on salaried wages. His work day runs from 7 to 5:30 with an hour break for lunch. So he is working 9 1/2 hours a day for 5 days a week. Should he be paid any overtime?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Tammy! Probably not. An employer can require that a salaried exempt employee use a time clock. That alone does not make the employee non-exempt. If your husband is engaged in manual labor, such as working as a mechanic, then he is probably not an exempt employee and is entitled to overtime. But if he is a manager or sales person, he may very well be an exempt salaried employee. HTH and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
Ameila my boss is cutting me from a 40hr work week to 32hrs he is doing this because he said he needed to hire an additional person and needed to give them some hours. It has nothing to do with my job performance but my boss doesnt want to work extra shifts so he’s giving the new person his shifts plus two of mine is that legal? I have been with the company over 2 years and am the only one losing hours and I don’t want to even a person I have senortiy over will keep 40hrs.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elzie! Yes, this is legal. The employer originally hired you for 40 hours but now has decided that it is better for the business to give you only 32 hours. Unfortunately, employers are permitted to unilaterally make this type of change. Apparently the employer has decided that it will be easier for him to hire a new employee for 40 hours per week, than for 32 hours per week. Sorry, with we could offer more help!~ Amelia
Posted by: Shirley Reed
The hospital that I work at is requiring the staff of only a certain area to perform community service (hospital sponsered). They say it is mandatory but unpaid. Is this legal? It is not hospital wide. If we dont participate we will not get our evaluation or our raise. If its not legal what steps should be taken?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Shirley! Many forward-thinking companies are becomming more involved by permitting employees to take paid time off work to volunteer. However, it sounds like that is not the case here.
If you are hourly employees, this is probably not lawful. If the employer makes a certain activity mandatory, employees must be paid for their time. File a wage claim with the US Department of Labor since Mississippi has no minimum wage law. If you are exempt employees, you can just consider this part of your job.
It is generally lawful for the employer to treat employees of one department differently from others. However, if that policy has a disparate impact on members of a protected group, it may be illegal discrimination. If, for example, most of the members of this department are female, or Chinese, that would likely be illegal discrimination. File a complaint with the EEOC.
Many employers require members of the PR or sales departments to be active in the community, but it sounds like this employer may be taking it too far. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: lindy
can anybody please tell me the phone number of the MS state depratment of labor’s phone number?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi lindy! Mississippi does not have a state department of labor with enforcement authority, as most other states do. Because the state has no minimum wage law and few laws protecting employees rights, they mostly handle unemployment claims. However, you can contact the Mississippi Department of Employment Security at 601-321-6000 or http://www.mdes.ms.gov. Click on “contact us” at the top.
If you have a wage and hour complaint, you would be better off contacting the US Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. If you have a discrimination complaint, you would be better off contacting the federal EEOC at http://www.eeoc.gov. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~Amelia
Posted by: Elzie
Amelia a co-worker of mine fell twice at work and she is an older lady the second time she hurt her kness really badly and has gone to the Doctor and they told her she needs surgery. She fell because at work their is a huge rise in the carpet that serveral people mostly guests have tripped on and have complained about it constantly and nothing has been done to fix it. When my coworker told my boss she was going the the Doctor and needed a workers injury report form for workers comp he told her that his insurance is going to do an investiagtion and that he is not supopose to give her any paper work, the name of his insurance, or the number to his insurance company is that true or legal?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Elzie! This is a very unusual way for an employer to handle a worker’s injury, and it suggests to us that the employer may not have the workers’ comp insurance that is required by law. Yes, the employer should provide the worker with an accident or injury report, and the name of his workers’ comp insurance company.
It also sounds like this injury was due to the employer’s negligence, which might contribute to this reluctance.
In most cases, all the employee has to do is tell the doctor that the injury is work-related, and they will send the medical bills directly to the employer. However, because this employer is acting weird, your coworker should also contact the Mississippi Workers’ Comp Commission at http://www.mwcc.state.ms.us/ to file a complaint about the employer. In addition, she should speak to a personal injury lawyer. Often, a personal injury lawyer will take a case like this with no payment up front. Just knowing that she has consulted an attorney may motivate the employer to respond. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Carolyn
Hi Amelia,
At my job, the payroll department, started using a new software that has been very confusing to the employees and when you get your check stub, it does not seem to add up or make sense. This is the first job that I have worked that you can’t understand your paystub. When you call payroll, they say that the software is rounding the figures and even though it looks wrong, it’s right, but how can you really be sure. Every payday, I have to call and question my paycheck and at times, I’m short a couple of hours and I have to really press payroll to get my money and I should not have to do this every payday. I make sure that I get paid what I worked for but a lot of people probably don’t even question payroll about their pay, I just hear them complain about their check is not right. Is there any way we can get someone to come in and investigate the payroll department? Because I believe that they are stealing a lot of money from people by shorting them on their paycheck. Would appreciate any ideas. Thanks
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Carolyn! Yes, you (and the other employees) can file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the U. S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. Frankly, we do not believe that the problem is the new payroll software, either. Usually payroll software is more accurate than manual systems — but like any other computer system, it is “garbage in, garbage out.”
You and your coworkers should keep accurate written records of the time you work each day. Under federal law, you are entitled to payment for all the time worked under the minimum wage law, the FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act. You are also entitled to overtime when you work more than 40 hours in the payroll week.
You don’t say what problems you are encountering with payroll, but the employer cannot automatically deduct time for meal breaks, if you don’t actually receive those breaks. You must be paid for any rest breaks shorter than 20 minutes.
If your check is not right, you can and should report it to the U.S. Department of Labor — especially since this is an ongoing problem and affects many people. They have the power to inspect the employer’s records for the past 3 years.
In many states, a state agency would handle this issue. However, because Mississippi has no minimum wage law, you have to depend on the federal government to investigate.
Very often, as soon as the employer learns they are being investigated, any payroll problems instantly disappear and emploees are paid any wages owed.
If you have additional questions about your payroll problems, feel free to ask! HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Todd
Is it Legal for an employer in Mississippi to require salary employees to work over their Scheduled 40 hours without being compensated and possibly fired for not working over their scheduled 40 week?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Todd! Yes, it is if the salaried employees are exempt. Mississippi has no state minimum wage or overtime law, so the relevant statute is the federal FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA requires overtime for employees who work more than 40 hours per week. However, many salaried employees are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA, depending upon their job duties.
There is no law in Mississippi that limits the number of hours that any employee can be required to work. An employer can fire any employee who does not perform as expected, including working the required number of hours. An exempt employee can be required to work 40, 50, even 80 or more hours per week without extra compensation. Not every salaried employee is exempt, however. If you aren’t sure whether you are exempt or not, post another comment with your job duties. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Todd
I am a salaried estimator in the construction industry, is this an “exempt” position according to FLSA?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Todd! Yes, you are probably an exempt employee under the FLSA. But exempt status actually depends upon your duties, not just your title, so it is impossible for us to tell for sure, based on this information. There are 5 types of exempt employees under the FLSA: Outside Salespeople, Administrators, Executives, Computer Pros and Professionals. You are most likely an exempt salesperson or administrator. However, employees who perform manual labor are never exempt. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Todd
I am not in charge of anybody, one of three estimators for doors in the company, just thought it was wrong that the owner threatened us all to work more and on weekends for him. Or be fired. we are the low men on the totem pole, just does not seem to pertain to us based on “Exempt ” standards, we are not managers or executives nor administrative ASSt. We don’t do outside sales, We have an in house sales person who takes our bid jobs and tries to sell them for the company. Don’t see how I can be “exempt” with what I do.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Todd! Any employer can tell employees at any time that they must work weekends or be fired. But hourly employees are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week. Exempt employees are not. (Many employees believe it is wrong to “threaten someone’s job.” But really, if you are on the brink of being fired, don’t you want to know that?)
An exempt Administrator under the FLSA does not have to be an administrative assistant. Any employee who primarily does paperwork (not manual labor) and makes business decisions that affect the company, is probably an exempt Administrator. Controllers, Accountants and Payroll Clerks are exempt administrators in many cases. As an estimator, you are certainly making decisions on prices that affect the business. (And the fact that you are being told to work weekends if necessary to bring in business, would indicate that the owner thinks you are salespeople or exempt administrators.)
But again, it is impossible for us to make that determination online. File a complaint that you are being unfairly treated as an exempt employee with the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. They will make a determination based on your work duties. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Read more about exempt employees at http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17a_overview.htm
Posted by: kris wiggins
is it against any law to be clocked out be a supervisor and then required to keep working ?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi kris! Yes, this is against the law. The federal minimum wage law requires that an employee be paid for all time worked. If the employer works more than 40 hours in the payroll period, the same law requires that the employee be paid overtime. It is illegal to require an employee to work off the clock. Unfortunately, Mississippi has no minimum wage law, and not every employer is covered by the federal law. However, you should still file a wage complaint with the US Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov, and cross your fingers that your employer is covered. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: r.d. alford
Drivers at the company we work for have been allowed to work through lunch and write down on our time sheets (no lunch ) and get paid for it .monday afternoon , they said no more docked us .5 hours THEN –docked us 2.5 hours for the previous week –cost me and 20 other drivers over 40 dollars each..can they do this?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi r.d.! The employer can establish a new break policy or start to enforce an existing meal break policy. They can require that every employee take a meal break, and be disciplined or terminated if they do not. However, the employer must pay you (and the other drivers) for all the time worked. In this case, they are refusing to pay you for 3 hours that you actually worked during the last two weeks. (Assuming that you genuinely did not take a meal break.) This is illegal. Because Mississippi has no minimum wage law, you should file a wage complaint with the US Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: AJ
My son works for a tire company private own that he works 6 days a week 8-4:30 and only gets paid $200 a week.He is 21 years old .That is less than min wage ,and he only gives him cash ,Is that legal and what can he do ,When he ask his boss about getting at least min wage and work only 5 days he tells him to take or leave it .
Posted by: Amelia
Hi AJ! Unfortunately, this may be legal in Mississippi because the state has no minimum wage. Many employees are covered by the federal minimum wage ($7.25) and overtime laws, but they apply only to employers with annual sales of $500,000 or more, or to employees who engage in interstate business. If your son accepts credit cards for payment or uses the internet at work, then he is covered by the federal minimum wage. However, if the employer is small and your son changes tires, then he is not covered by the federal minimum wage. A Mississippi employer could pay an employee 10 cents and hour and it would be legal under state law.
Your son should file a wage and overtime complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. If he is covered by the federal law, they will force the employer to pay him back wages and overtime. If your son is not covered by federal law, he should use his time looking for a better job, but not quit this one until he finds it. And you might both consider contacting your representitives in the state legislator to let them know that Mississippi needs a state minimum wage law. It would be great if you could have employment laws as enlightened as Kentucky or West Virginia. HTH. and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: kristal
Hi i work for a casino in Mississippi. I was out on FMLA for 3 weeks in December due to my daughter having major surgery. We are on a point system there and if you go 6 months with no tardies or absences your points fall off. My points were due to fall off Feb 10th 2010 i was informed today that now that i took FMLA i have to go 6months from the time i returned to work. This is not in our handbook nor have they made me sign anything saying this is the way they do it. I didn’t think under federal law they could punish you or penalize you for using FMLA. I would appreciate any enlightment and guidance of how to handle this situation. Kristal
Posted by: Amelia
Hi kristal! We agree with your assessment, although the regulations are less than clear on this particular issue of points. An employer cannot count time on FMLA as an “absence” for disciplinary reasons, and it appears that this is what your employer is doing.
Suppose that you worked 4 months without an absence or tardy prior to taking FMLA. We believe that the proper way to handle this would be that if you worked an additional 2 months after returning from FMLA. The employer need not count time on FMLA towards erasing the points, but our understanding is that an employee who uses FMLA cannot automatically have his or her 6-month point period reset, either. Contact the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov to file a complaint. They enforce FMLA regulations and can help you with this issue. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: gary
I work for a family owned restaurant that is having financial problems. We believe they are taking deductions from the employees to cover their bills. For example : every employee is charges every shift for food even if they do not eat. The charges vary according to what your position is. Another isse: We are to be paid every other Monday, we are now closed on Monday- if we beg for our check on Tuesday, we may or may not get it> If we do it is late Tues night or we have to come back Wed. - They have also” changed software”hours have been missing, strange deductions taken, We can never figure out our check stubs, when we confront them if course it was some silly mistake but I know many do not pay attention. I know this place is under the FLSA because we use credit card machines, do online booking, use internet and are attached to a hotel. Wait staff is also required to tip out everyone in the building for doing the job that they are there for, they are also required to pay the fee the credit card company charges and whatever else they feel the need to deduct, when they are asked about it they will not give an answer. What can we do? They would retaliate and make our lives miserable
Posted by: Amelia
Hi gary! For the record, the employment laws in Mississippi and every other state are the same for a family business as for a major corporation. We also believe that this employer is covered by the FLSA, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. And, as you noted, it seems they are underpaying employees or making illegal deductions from paychecks, because they are having financial problems.
The FLSA requires that employees be paid on payday. That law also permits deductions, but only if they are a) required by law [like social security] or b) for the employees benefit [like health insurance.] Being charged for a meal you do not consume does not fall into either category, so it is an unlawful deduction. The employer also has to provide paycheck stubs that clearly designate what deductions are being made. Credit card fees cannot be deducted from an employee’s paycheck. And obviously the employer must pay workers for all the time they work.
Under federal law, it is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee who files a wage complaint. Even if the wage complaint later proves to be invalid, unless the employee’s intention was to commit fraud, the employer cannot retaliate. So our suggestion is that you file a wage complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. the complaint should cover any unpaid wages and improper deductions, including meals. The DOL will investigate and force the employer to pay back wages owed to everyone. In addition, the DOL will prosecute the employer if they retaliate against employees.
Our second suggestion is that you keep working, but launch a serious effort to find a better job. The majority of restaurants and hotels are well managed by owners who follow all the applicable labor laws. In particular, major chains usually follow all employment laws. When an employer takes these kinds of actions against employees, the employer is both unethical and having financial difficulties. It is only a matter of time before they go out of business. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Lisa
I am a supervisor in a nursing home in Mississippi. I’ve always been considered salary. We now have new administrator. She says Im not salary. Can employee’s or boss call me at home, if not salary? I supervise a staff of about 12.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Lisa! Any employee can be paid on an hourly basis, rather than salary — regardless of duties. So yes, the new administrator can pay you on an hourly basis. Employees or the administrator can call you at home, but you should log that time and must be paid for every minute that you work, even if that “work” is taking calls at home. In addition, if you work more than 40 hours in the payroll week, you are entitled to overtime. HTH, and tahnks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Belinda
I live in the state of Mississippi I was wondering what the definition of full time and part time (hour wise) falls under.Isn’t 32 hours per week considered full time? The reason I ask is because my boss hired me on as full time and then he found out I am receiving a-little help from social services.So now he has labeled me as part time.Could the reason he has done this is so he doesn’t have to offer me health insurance?I have worked for this company for 3 seasons…moving company/military moves and he has never done this to me before.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Belinda! Full-time and part-time are a matter of company policy, not federal or state law. Some employers consider 32 hours full time, others consider it part time and the employer can change the policy.
However, if you have a disability and the employer reduced your benefits when he learned of that, this is illegal discrimination. You should inform the EEOC. (If you receive social services benefits for another reason, what the employer did is wrong, but it is legal.) HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Belinda
Thanks for the information Ms.Amelia.U have been very informative.Keep up the good work….we need more people like you in this world.Unfortunately,Mississippi seems to be a state that makes it’s own rules as it so chooses to at any given time…..there’s no security in that!!!! Just for the record…I am receiving public assistance because I have a two year old son.He needs to eat so I went and got him food stamps.We may not have much but NO ONE goes to bed hungry.I have since found a different job that gives me a minimum of 32 hours per week and they consider that “full time”….only hope they keep it that way.As for the last place of employment….THERE LOSS……I’ll take my excellent work ethnics elsewhere. Thanks again,Belinda
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Belinda! Good for you! We totally agree with you, that was the old employer’s loss.
We regularly write on employment laws in all 50 states and we have to say that without a doubt, Mississippi offers the least protection to employees. Even states like Louisiana have better employment laws. Besides having no minimum wage law, no break law, no law requiring a day off, Mississippi has no state agency that will help employees when the employer cheats them. Kudos to you for taking care of your family, and don’t let anyone get you down!~ Amelia
Posted by: Lacy P
He Amelia,
My question to you is this: I was forced to terminate my last place of employment. The work environment is very hostile. We are paid weekly. I sent my last time sheet to them via email and requested they mail me my check. I have not receive my last paycheck nor can I get them to respond via email. I do not want to call them because of the hostile nature of the company. I have thought about sending them a self stamped envelope with another copy of my time sheet and again requesting them to mail my check. I do not owe nor do I have any equipment of theirs so I am at a lost why they will not send me my check. If they do not send me my check what can I do. I live in Mississippi. Thanks
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Lacy! If the employer is covered by the federal minimum wage law, the FLSA, they must pay you at least the minimum wage for time worked. You should file a wage complaint with the US Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov.
In many states, the state Department of Labor would assist you in collecting your final paycheck. Unfortunately, Mississippi has no state agency that protects workers, and no state minimum wage law. The only other option in Mississippi is to take the employer to small claims court. Usually, you do not need an attorney to be represented in small claims court. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Lizzie
Can an employer in Mississippi deduct or withhold wages from an employee for mistakes or errors that employee had made?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Lizzie! That depends. Most states have a law against such deductions. Mississippi has the worst laws for employee protection in the nation, so they have no law against this, or almost anything else the employer wants to do. (They also have no state department of labor to protect employee rights.)
However, federal law in some cases prohibits any deduction that is not for the employee’s benefit — and deducting for mistakes or errors is not for the employee’s benefit. If the employer has more than $500,000 in revenue per year, then federal law may very well apply. You can certainly file a complaint for an improper deduction with the U.S. Department of Labor at http://www.dol.gov. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Anita Davis
Message: I work 12 hour shifts for a county 911 dispatch center. We work 12 hour holidays and are paid time & a half for only 8 hours and regular pay for the remaining 4 hours. Also we are given 5 holidays a year but are only paid 8 hours holiday instead of 12 hour pay for each day we take as a holiday. If we chose to take off 2 days (24 hours) then we are using 3 holidays. Is this legal. We work 14 days a month and are paid correctily for anything over 160 hours. It is just the holiday & vacation pay that I am questioning. Thank you.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Anita! Yes, this is legal in Mississippi and most other states. There is no law that requires an employer to give paid holidays to workers. If the employer offers paid holidays, the employer sets the policies regarding them. Also be aware that a number of federal employment laws do not apply to employees of city, county and state governments. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Anita Davis
Message I would also like to know if it is legal for different county departments to have different holidays. For instance our department is only given 5 legal holidays, while other county departments are given 10. So if I work Memorial Day for example, I am not awarded any paid holiday pay–only straight time. Is this legal?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Anita! This may be legal. An employer can have different benefits for different groups of employees. For example, police officers might have one set of paid holidays while those who work in the tax assessor’s office would have different holidays. Sometimes this is a requirement under different union contracts.
However, this policy could be illegal discrimination if it has a disparate impact on employees in a protected group. Suppose that the group of employees who only have 5 holidays are almost all female, while the group of employees who have 10 holidays per year are mostly male. That might be illegal discrimination against women, under the law. The same would be true if most Latino employees had 5 holidays, while most Caucasian employees happened to fall into the group that had 10 holidays. This type of discrimination can occur, even when it was not the employer’s intention to discriminate. If you think this is the case, you should file a complaint with the federal EEOC at http://www.eeoc.gov. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Anita Davis
Message Amelia, I really appreciate your response. I was employed by the sheriff’s office before 911 was established in our county so I am somewhat familiar with the laws regarding law enforcement. I wasn’t sure what our office fell under. It’s hard to believe that Ms doesn’t have any laws making it mandatory for all branches of county or municpal government to fall under the same holiday schedules. But I guess that’s just the way it goes. Once again I thank you.
Posted by: Amelia
Hi again Anita! Yes, most counties have one set of benefits for all county employees. However, Mississippi and Alabama are unique in their lack of protections for employees. Again, if the 911 operators are mostly female, and the law enforcement officers (with 10 holidays) are mostly male, that could very well be illegal discrimination under federal law. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: lindy
Amelia, If an employee is responsible for products or merchandise being given to a customer at no charge due to not following company standard operating procedures, can the employer payroll deduct the cost of the products or merchandise from the employee’s check? This is in Mississippi
Posted by: Amelia
Hi lindy! A number of states have laws prohibiting this type of deduction, but Mississippi does not. If the employer is covered by the federal minimum wage law, and the deduction results in the employee being paid less than $7.25 per hour for the time worked in that payroll period, that would be illegal under federal law. Otherwsie, it is legal in Mississippi. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Tom
Message
Is it legal for an employer to work you 12 to 16 or 20 hours a day, and when you reach forty send you home for the rest of the week, and saying that technically you have not worked ovetime?
If I worked 42 hours this week, and was paid overtime, is it legal for the company to send me home 3 hours early the next week to compensate for it?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Tom! Unfortunately, yes, everything you describe is legal. Under federal law, employees are entitled to overtime when they work more than 40 hours in the payroll week. An employee who works two 20-hour shifts and then is off the rest of the week is not entitled to overtime.
An employee who works 42 hours in one payroll week is entitled to 2 hours of overtime.
An employer is free to schedule an employee however the employer likes. Any employer could schedule a worker for 37 hours this week, or 27 hours, or 47 hours, or whatever the employer prefers.
Most companies work with a very strict budget for payroll, and if they go over one week they must compensate by scheduling fewer hours the next week. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Tom young
I have a physical problem that sometimes causes me not to be able to work eight hours a day, can the company force me to work more than eight hours a day?
Do I need a medical excuse not to work over eight hours?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Tom! That depends. If your physical problem is permanent, then you may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since 2009, many conditions including arthritis, Parkinson’s, diabetes and even high blood pressure are disabilities under that law. In many cases, working fewer hours per day is a reasonable accommodation. If this is the case, 1) Inform the employer that you have a permanent disability and 2) Check out the EEOC website at http://www.eeoc.gov. You may be required to provide certification that you have a disability at some point, but the employer must keep all medical information disclosed under ADA private, even from your supervisor.
If you are expected to make a full recovery from your medical condition, then ADA does not apply. If the empoyer has more than 50 workers, you may be entitled to unpaid time off under FMLA, the Family and Medical Leave Act. You can use FMLA on an intermittent basis to work fewer hours per week if this is medically necessary. If this is the case, inform your employer that you have a serious health condition under FMLA. Your doctor will probably have to certify your “serious health condition” but you are under no obligation to disclose your diagnosis to the employer. Check out info on the FMLA at http://www.dol.gov. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia
Posted by: Don
If a company’s policy is to give an employee a evaluation after being on the job for 1 year, does any raise that may be given have to start on the anniversary of that employee? Let me give you an example. The company cuts off time on the 1st and 15th of the month and pays on the 5th and 20th of the month. So if an employee was hired on the 10th of the month, and sometime soon after the 1st year of employment is over, an evaluation is done and a raise is given. When should the raise be effective? Should it be retroactive to the anniversary date of the employee or is it at the discretion of the employer? Even if the raise were given a month or two later is that a breaking of any wage and hour rules?
Posted by: Amelia
Hi Don! There is no wage or hour law that requires any employer to give a raise to any employee who is making more than the minimum wage. Ever. And in the current economy, employers who are in a position to give a salary increase are few and far between.
Because no raises are required, it is completely, 100% up to the employer when they go into effect, if they are given. The employer could begin the new wage on the first day of the payperiod after the evaluation, and it would be completely legal. This is at the employer’s discreation and there is no need to make the increase retroactive to the anniversary date. No law has been broken if the increase is given a month or two later. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia