Work is work. It doesn't matter whether your supervisor officially clocked you in. If you were working, your employer has to pay you. That's the core rule under the federal wage law.
Who do I represent?
I work with warehouse workers doing pre-shift setup, retail staff staying late to clean, nurses answering patient calls on unpaid breaks, delivery drivers doing route prep, and construction workers arriving early to load trucks. Also factory workers entering data after clocking out, security guards doing paperwork off the books, and anyone else told "just log in from home and help with this real quick."
Any job where the employer expects you to work but doesn't want to pay for it.
What are the most common off-the-clock violations?
Here's what I see most often:
Your supervisor tells you to show up 15 minutes early to set up the register, prep equipment, or download files. You're not clocked in. That's work you should be paid for.
You clock out at 5pm but stay an extra 20 minutes answering emails, wrapping up calls, or organizing files. The employer says that's "on your own time." But if you're doing job tasks, it's compensable time.
You're not given a real lunch break. You eat at your desk, answer the phone, or handle customer issues during what you're told is your break. Your time isn't your own, so it's work time. Breaks interrupted by work tasks count.
Your supervisor alters your time records after you clock out, reducing hours you actually worked, removing minutes you logged. That is a direct overtime law violation.
You get a direct message from your boss at 9pm asking you to handle something. You do it. No compensation. The overtime law doesn't care that it's outside the office. If the employer knows (or should know) you're working, it has to pay.
How does the law protect you?
The overtime law uses a straightforward test: did the employer "suffer or permit" you to work? That means if your employer knew (or reasonably should have known) you were working, it has to pay you, even if you weren't officially clocked in.
Your employer can't unilaterally decide that work doesn't count because it happened at the wrong time or the wrong place. That's not up to them.
You're entitled to at least minimum wage. In Texas, that's the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. Texas does not set a state minimum above the federal floor. In New Mexico, the state minimum is higher than federal ($12.00 per hour), so workers there get the higher rate. If you worked overtime (over 40 hours in a week), you're entitled to time-and-a-half for those extra hours.
And here's the thing: I handle these cases on contingency. If there is no recovery, you pay nothing, not even the costs.
What could your case be worth?
Off-the-clock cases build on a simple foundation: all the hours you worked, at the right wage, plus overtime premiums.
If you worked 50 hours a week for a year and were only paid for 40, the calculation starts at 10 hours per week times 52 weeks times your hourly wage. Then I add in the overtime premiums (the extra 50% on top of your regular rate for any hours over 40 per week).
The overtime law lets you recover damages twice: once for the actual wages stolen, and again as liquidated damages (a penalty equal to the unpaid wages). So if you're owed $10,000 in back pay, you can recover up to $20,000.
We can typically look back 2 to 3 years of work history, depending on the circumstances.
What does it cost to bring a case?
I work on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing upfront, and if there is no recovery, you pay nothing at all, not even the costs. No surprises, no bills in the mail.
For a broader overview of how federal law addresses unpaid wages, see Unpaid Wages.
Contact Me
If you're working without getting paid, or if your hours are being shorted, call me at (512) 799-2048 or email me at doug@welmakerlaw.com. We'll talk about what happened and what your case might be worth. The conversation is free, and there's no obligation.