If you work for a private employer who has annual receipts of at least $500,000, that employer is subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA mandates wages and overtime pay for various types of employees.
The State of Connecticut also has a law about wages and overtime pay. Title 31, Chapter 558 of the General Statutes of Connecticut largely mirrors the FLSA. So, if you believe you’re owed Connecticut overtime pay, you may consider contacting the Connecticut Department of Labor. The Connecticut Wage and Workplace Standards Division provides a form, “Statement of Claim for Wages,” that you can complete if you believe you are owed overtime pay.
The form asks for your contact information, Social security number, and the type of work you do. It also asks for quite a bit of information about your employer, including the name of the person in charge, the number of hours worked per week, and the total amount you are claiming. You also have to provide an explanation as to why you believe your employer owes you money.
If you want the federal government to investigate your overtime pay issue, you need to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division. You can either file a complaint by mail or by traveling to a Wage & Hour Division (WHD) office. In Connecticut, there are two offices: one in Hartford and one in New Haven.
Because there is a two-year statute of limitations on overtime claims, you have to file a Wage & Hour Division complaint within 18 months of the violation. In the complaint, you have to include the following information:
Your name, address, and phone number
Your job title and a description of what you do on the job
How much you are paid, how you are paid, and how often you are paid,
How many hours you work per week
An explanation of the alleged violations and the dates that the violations occurred
Your employer’s name, address, and phone number
The type of business your employer engages in
At that point, your complaint is in the government’s hands. The Connecticut Department of Labor and the federal WHD care about employees’ rights, but they have limited resources. The WHD reviews your complaint, but only opens an investigation if they think there’s been a legal violation and if they think they can fix the problem.
The alternative to filing a complaint with the Connecticut Department of Labor or the WHD is to contact an employment attorney. An employment attorney also cares about employees’ rights, and will represent you in a lawsuit against your employer (or former employer). In successful cases, an employment attorney may be able to recover the difference between the amount you should have been paid and the amount you were actually paid, as well as an equal amount for liquidated damages.
The Connecticut law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act also say that you can recover your employment attorney’s fee and court costs. The law’s “fee-shifting” provision makes the employer pay your legal fees. For this reason, your employment attorney will likely not charge you any money upfront to take your case.
About the Author:
Sergei Lemberg is an attorney focusing on consumer law, class actions related to automotive issues, and personal injury litigation. With nearly two decades of experience, his areas of practice include Lemon Law (vehicle defects), Debt Collection Harassment, TCPA (illegal robocalls and texts), Fair Credit Reporting Act, Overtime claims, Personal Injury cases, and Class Actions. He has consistently been recognized as the nation's "most active consumer attorney." In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case Duguid v. Facebook. He is also the author of "Defanging Debt Collectors," a guide that empowers consumers to fight back against debt collectors and prevail, as well as "Lemon Law 101: The Laws That Lemon Dealers Don't Want You to Know."
