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If you believe you’ve been deprived of the compensation to which you’re legally entitled, please contact the Lore Law Firm. Our overtime rights lawyers represent Mississippi employees who have been subjected to workplace wage and hour violations and take cases on a contingent fee basis – no fee if no recovery of backpay.
For more information, contact a Mississippi overtime laws & wages attorney or visit our comprehensive state labor laws guide.
Mississippi does not have state labor laws that differ from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for issues like minimum wage and overtime pay. Thus, the federal law applies to just about every workplace compensation-related issue in the state.
The current Mississippi and federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
Mississippi state labor laws on overtime pay apply the FLSA and require employers to pay time and a-half for all hours worked over 40 per workweek, unless an employee is properly classified as exempt.
An employer doesn’t violate overtime laws by requiring employees to work overtime, (ie “mandatory overtime”), as long as they are properly compensated at the premium rate required by law.
Most workers in Mississippi are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week. In certain circumstances, however, there are exceptions.
Employees engaged in executive, administrative, or professional capacities (and paid at least $455 per week on a salary basis) are exempt from the overtime requirement. Note that new minimum salary requirements for these overtime exemptions take effect January 1, 2020 and increase the minimum salary threshold to $684 per week (or $35,568 annually). This change in federal law will also apply to most workers in Mississippi when making the determination of whether they are classified as exempt or non-exempt from the overtime pay laws.
While there are situations in which workers are legitimately running their own business and properly treated as independent contractors who are not entitled to receive overtime, employers are not allowed to mischaracterize employee roles to avoid paying overtime compensation.
Merely labeling a worker as an independent contractor, or even entering into a written agreement, is not enough to avoid the labor laws on overtime pay. While there is no single definition of “independent contractor” in Mississippi labor laws. There are several factors to be considered in determining if a worker in Mississippi is an employee or independent contractor (a/k/a 1099 employee)
If properly classified as an independent contractor under Mississippi law, workers are typically eligible for only the specific compensation bargained for in a contract.
Mississippi doesn’t require employers to provide workers with paid or unpaid vacation leave.
Many employers choose to provide vacation leave as part of a benefits packages to attract employees, however. In these situations, employers may set the policies, terms and conditions as to how and when such a benefit is used – including “use it or lose it” policies that state that terminating employees forfeit accrued but unused vacation time. However, any such policy must be clearly communicated to employees through handbooks or other published policies.
Mississippi’s deadline for filing an overtime claim adheres to the FLSA, which requires those seeking to recover unpaid back overtime wages file a lawsuit within two years from the date of the employer’s wage violation. So a lawsuit filed today would be able to seek recovery of back overtime for only the prior 2 (sometimes 3) years.
As an example, suppose you believe that your employer has failed to pay you proper overtime wages since January 1, 2016. Waiting until June 1, 2019, to file your lawsuit means you are only allowed to seek unpaid wages from June 1, 2017, to June 1, 2019.
The statute of limitations may be extended to three years if an employer’s violation of the FLSA was willful. An FLSA violation is deemed willful if the employer knew that its conduct was prohibited by the FLSA or showed reckless disregard.
At the Lore Law Firm, we represent salaried, hourly, and day-rate workers in an array of employment litigation matters, including unpaid overtime compensation claims in Mississippi. Our attorneys, and the Mississippi overtime law attorneys we associate with, are passionate about protecting the rights of workers and have helped recover millions of dollars in unpaid overtime wages for our clients.
Contact us for a free and confidential review of your situation.
It all starts with a free and confidential case review. A personal case manager will quickly identify if you have a valid claim. If they determine it’s valid, you can rest easy knowing that you won’t pay us a dime unless we recover compensation for you. Our contingency basis is meant to incentivize victims to pursue legal action without financial concerns. Contact us now to learn how our unpaid wages lawyer can help.
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