Get Back the Wages You've Earned

Who is covered by the federal overtime law?

Most private-sector employees in the United States are covered by the federal overtime law. Coverage is established two ways. Enterprise coverage applies if your employer has at least $500,000 in annual gross sales and is engaged in interstate commerce, which sweeps in nearly every business of meaningful size. Individual coverage applies if your own work involves interstate commerce: handling payments that cross state lines, communicating with out-of-state customers, working with goods that came from another state. If you work in the private sector for a business of any meaningful size, you are almost certainly covered.

Does being paid a salary mean I am not entitled to overtime?

No. Being paid a salary does not by itself make you exempt from overtime. To be exempt under the white-collar exemptions, the employer must show that you meet both the salary basis test (at least $684 per week as of 2026) and the duties test for executive, administrative, or professional work. If you fail either prong, you are non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay for every hour over 40 in a workweek. Most salaried workers I see who think they are exempt are actually misclassified because the duties test is not met.

Can a 1099 worker recover unpaid overtime?

Yes, when the worker is actually an employee misclassified as a contractor. A 1099 is a tax form. It does not control your status under the overtime law. Federal courts apply the economic reality test, which looks at the totality of the working relationship rather than any one factor. The factors include the employer's control over the work, the worker's opportunity for profit or loss, the worker's investment compared to the employer's, the permanence of the relationship, whether the work requires special skill, and whether the work is integral to the employer's business. No single factor decides the case. If the overall economic reality is that the worker depends on the employer for income rather than running their own independent business, the worker is an employee for overtime purposes and is entitled to overtime, regardless of the tax form.

How far back can I recover unpaid overtime?

The statute of limitations is two years from the date you file your lawsuit, or three years if the violation was willful. Willfulness means the employer knew the conduct violated the overtime law or showed reckless disregard for whether it did. That is a fact-specific question decided case by case. In many misclassification cases the facts support the three-year period, but it is not automatic. Each workweek of unpaid overtime is its own violation, and the oldest workweek slides off the recoverable period every time another seven days pass. Every week of delay between today and the filing date is one week of damages that may fall outside the limitations period and become unrecoverable.

What does it cost to bring an unpaid overtime case?

Nothing upfront. I handle unpaid overtime cases on a contingency fee basis. You do not pay a retainer, you do not pay during the case, and if there is no recovery, you pay nothing, not even the costs. My fee is a percentage of the recovery, agreed to in writing before the case starts, and it only gets paid if you do. That structure is what makes it possible for working people to enforce their overtime rights without financial risk.