Many of The Lambs Club employees fall under the non-exempt category of employment and MUST be paid overtime wages according to the guidelines laid out in the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA). The FLSA sets the overtime rate for non-exempt employees at time and one-half their standard rate of pay for any time worked over 40 hours in a single week.
The FLSA regulations do not apply to “administrative” or “professional” employees due to exemptions preventing specific categories of employees from receiving overtime pay.
Exemptions are not based entirely on one’s job title, however. Whether or not an employee should receive overtime pay is calculated by the hours worked, the rate of pay, the job duties, and even the job description.
It’s always a good idea to speak with an attorney with experience in overtime pay laws due to issues with additional state laws governing overtime pay. These laws sometimes overlap federal laws and further complicate or contradict the FLSA.
Owned by famed American Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, The Lambs club is a restaurant is a New York City restaurant serving contemporary bar grill offerings. The main floor dining room is open breakfast, lunch and dinner whereas the mezzanine lounge accommodates daytime meetings or refined cocktails, bar snacks and a full dinner menu in the evening with banquettes and floor to ceiling windows looking out onto 44th Street. Located within The Chatwal Hotel, The Lambs Club provides room service for the 76 hotel rooms and oversees private dining in various event spaces.
Numerous non-exempt The Lambs Club employees may be required to start before their shifts or even work after their shifts finish off the clock. It is not uncommon for employees to work double shifts as well. Because of this, if many The Lambs Club employees exceed 40 working hours in a single week , they should receive overtime pay.
Employers have been known to illegally misclassify positions to avoid paying overtime. For instance, The Lambs Club shift or location managers may have been labeled “managers” with the goal of marking them exempt from overtime pay. However, these employees are in fact non-exempt because of the nature of their job duties.
Often companies label employees as managers even though they do not fill vital roles for the business. The FLSA dictates that “managers” must have specific abilities, for instance, hiring or firing employees, making schedules, or completing other tasks that are essential to the running of the business. Typically these employees do not perform these duties and are instead only labeled as managers for employers to save money by avoiding paying overtime.
Another unlawful practice that The Lambs Club may perform is having employees clock in before a shift or asking them to stay after a shift without compensating them. This practice of manipulating time cards to keep payroll costs down is a violation of the FLSA and can result in a lawsuit.
How Can a FLSA Lawyer Help You
An experienced lawyer can analyze your case and see if you are entitled to lost overtime wages from The Lambs Club by evaluating how state and federal laws apply to your situation.
Does The Lambs Club Have to Pay Overtime Wages to Employees?
For the most part, The Lambs Club must pay overtime to non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a week as long as they are not excluded by the FLSA. However, these exemptions become more complicated by some states that have additional laws governing them.
If you feel like you have been denied overtime wages, then it is in your best interest to consult an attorney with FLSA experience and knowledge of state overtime laws.
Are There Other Overtime Pay Lawsuits Involving The Lambs Club?
Here are a few examples from the many previous lawsuits that have been issued against other employers for failing to pay overtime wages:
There are no overtime wage lawsuits pending against the Lambs Club but in 2011, its current owner, Geoffry Zakarian, filed for personal bankruptcy in order to avoid paying a possible large settlement in a class action suit filed against him and his former partners at Country in the Carlton Hotel. The claims against him alleged that when he was an owner of the restaurant, he failed to pay the workers time and a half for overtime, falsified pay records to shortchange them and deducted from their paychecks for staff meals they were not given
Although not an overtime pay suit, in 2016 an ex-employee at The Lamb’s Club says she lost her job after a complaint about getting slapped her rear end by her manager, she claimed in a Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit. .
If you feel as though The Lambs Club or another employer has denied you overtime wages, you could have a case. Please get in touch with the Lemberg Law legal team. Complete our form for a FREE case evaluation, or call 844-685-9200 NOW. Lemberg Law will evaluate your case as see if you are eligible to receive lost overtime wages as a non-exempt employee.
About the Author:
Sergei Lemberg is a lawyer whose practice focuses on consumer law, class actions and personal injury litigation. He has been repeatedly recognized as the “most active consumer attorney” in the country. In 2020, Mr. Lemberg represented Noah Duguid in the United States Supreme Court in the case entitled Duguid v. Facebook. He is the author of Defanging Debt Collectors, a book that teaches consumers how to battle debt collectors and win.